Gemma Logan 2 : The Problems of Mutant Teenagers
by shadowcatbrat918
Summary: The sequel to Gemma Logan. It's been three months since the battle at the weapon x facility, and the X-Men once again have other problems to face. But some problems are teenage drama as well as life or death.
1. Simple Plan Saga : Your Love Is A Lie

Hey guys! Well, here's the first chapter of the sequel to Gemma Logan. To those of you just joining us, hiya! The next three chapters were inspired by Simple Plan songs, hence the title. Hope you guys enjoy! :^)

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's Gemma, Brad, Vicki, Lizzie, Heather, Drake, Carlos, Sapphire, Christina, Max and Lindsay. No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

**Wolverine and the X-Men**

'**Gemma Logan 2 : The Problems of Mutant Teenagers'**

**The Simple Plan Saga : Your Love Is A Lie**

Key:

"Normal speech,"

'_Thinking,'_

'_**Telepathic conversations,'**_

"People from the future talking to those in the present,"

_**Short Prologue**_

It had been a whole year since Gemma Logan first arrived at the institute and only 3 months since the battle at the Weapon X Facility. Lindsay was still in a coma and Gemma and Johnny had grown closer. The two had been virtually inseparable since two months ago when they said those three little words to each other, 'I love you'. The two had even started hanging out with Spiderman, but that's a story for another paragraph. Our story begins in the medical lab at the Xavier institute, with a comatose dark haired girl, a fury blue man, a guilty feeling blonde, and a very depressed Russian . . . . ,

* * *

_**Charles Xavier's school for Gifted Youngsters, Medical Lab. 7:30pm.**_

Peter sat by Lindsay's hospital bed with a sad expression on his face. Resting his elbow on the bed railing and his cheek on his fist. Lindsay looked so beautiful and peaceful as she lay there, apart from the various wires connected to her body. She had a huge bandage around the large wound where she'd been impaled with a sword. It was slowly healing. _Very slowly_.

Everyday Peter was sure he saw her eyelids flicker, or her finger twitch a little, but she never woke up. Three _long_ months and she never woke up. He wasn't tired of waiting, he'd gladly wait forever if it meant he'd get Lindsay back. Kitty once told him he'd been gifted with extreme patience, and right now, it was one of the only things that kept his hope alive.

Sometimes he wished it was just him and Lindsay down here. It's not that he didn't like those around him, it's just he wanted his face to be the first thing Lindsay saw when she woke up. Not Beast doing a test or Bobby looking boredly at the ceiling. He knew why Hank was here, Hank was taking care of Lindsay, making her better. But Bobby? That was another story.

Peter supposed that either Bobby had nothing better to do than chat to Peter and Hank since the other teens were always doing something. Or there was the other thing, the fact that Peter had heard Bobby confess to Gemma one night that he thought Lindsay's current state was all his fault. But Peter didn't blame Bobby for this. He blamed Sabertooth. He threw the sword, he did . . . . this. But Sabertooth'd had his memories wiped when Gemma stopped and adamantium bullet he fired from hurting Wolverine, and instead, the bullet back fired onto the shooter. If Sabertooth couldn't remember what he did, there wasn't much point in seeking revenge. So Peter pushed whose fault it was to the back of his mind and focused on Lindsay waking up.

"Peter? Peter are you awake?" Bobby waved a hand in front of the Russian's face.

"Wuh, what?" Peter came back down to earth.

"I was gonna go get something to drink, you want anything?" Bobby asked, looking a little concerned, though ever the image conscious teen he hid it well.

"Uh, no thank you comrade," Peter shook his head.

"Okayyy then," Bobby nodded."You want anything Beast?"

"Not while I'm working son," Beast turned and smiled from his desk, turning back to his working almost straight after that.

"I guess I'll be back in a sec," Bobby shrugged as he left.

Beast turned back around in his chair when the door closed.

"Is everything alright Peter?" he quizzed, walking over to Peter and placing a hand on the young man's shoulders."You've seemed a little distant lately. It's to be expected considering the circumstances, but I just wanted to check you weren't feeling too bad,"

"I'm fine Hank, just a little . . . . worn out after the talk with Katya last week," Peter admitted.

It was true, the awkward conversation everyone had wanted to avoid had taken place last week when Kitty arrived back from Magneto's base. Peter had decided he'd be the one to tell her, and there we no arguments there. It had been long, and very damaging, but he and Kitty had managed to get past it all and tried to be friends. The same with Bobby and Kitty. It turned out Kitty didn't really have any feelings for poor Bobby, which was yet another reason for Bobby to mope around the lab.

"I thought you two were past that?" Hank questioned, slightly confused.

"It is not something that just goes away," Peter sighed."But things are better. Katya has excepted we are no longer together and as far as I know, has no hostile feelings towards Lindsay, which I am glad for. Besides, she had been tagging along with Gemma and Johnny when they go out to help keep New York safe with Spiderman,"

"Yes, Spiderman has become quite the ally to those three," Beast agreed."I think they're out on one of their nightly patrols right now,"

* * *

_**New York City, Roof of the Empire State Building. 7:45pm.**_

"You know I've never actually been inside here, past or future," Gemma informed as she and Kitty looked out over the city.

"If never been within three blocks of here," Kitty sighed."The New York skyline is so amazing and romantic. This view makes it even better,"

"Speaking of romantic. Shouldn't Spidey and my flame-brain of a boyfriend be here by now?" Gemma groaned.

"Traffic?" Kitty suggested.

"Johnny can fly, Spidey can swing. I don't think the New York traffic is gonna be much of a setback," Gemma raised an eyebrow.

"And Prince Charming has arrived," Johnny announced.

"Hey Spidey, oh it's just you Johnny," Gemma joked as she hugged him.

"You're _so_ funny," Johnny grinned.

"Tell me something I don't know," Gemma giggled.

"I love that song," Kitty mused.

"I love the movie it's from. It's so musically and sweet," Gemma did a little twirl over to Kitty.

"I seem to remember it being a chick flick," Johnny rolled his eyes.

"Watching chick flicks? I thought we were here to keep New York safe," Spiderman smirked as he swung in.

"Spidey!" Kitty squealed, but then she blushed and lowered her tone."Uh, hi,"

Johnny snorted and Gemma elbowed him.

"Nice to see you too Shadowcat," Spiderman smiled, little did Kitty know he was blushing too under that blue and red costume.

"So, ready to hit the streets? Or the air technically," Gemma requested, changing the subject.

Kitty nodded, still blushing, Johnny rolled his eyes once again but agreed, and after composing himself Spiderman exclaimed, "Let's do it,"

"Flame on!" Johnny shouted as he set on fire and flew ahead. Spidey shot a web at a building and swung forward.

"Ready Kitty?" Gemma queried as she lifted herself and Kitty into the air. Kitty and Gemma had been working on her abilities so now Kitty could walk on air, but Gemma always gave her a boost before she started.

Kitty began to run after the boys and replied, "Oh yeah,"

The two girls flew/ran after their friends, ready to kick some butt.

* * *

_**Charles Xavier's school for Gifted Youngsters, Danger Room. 8pm.**_

"Okay, this time try to take your opponent out without ripping them to pieces. _Logan_," Emma spoke into the microphone in the danger room control booth. She and Logan were helping X-23 to learn how to fight without killing her opponent. Emma enjoyed teasing Logan about him being the 'training dummy' as she called it.

"I am Em," Logan insisted, even though he blatantly wasn't. He and Laura had been ripping each other to shreds for the past hour. Their fights would've killed ordinary humans, but their healing factors gave new meaning to the phrase, 'If I get knocked down, I'll get up again'."You gotta learn to disarm and harm, not kill for the thrill,"

"Take your own advice," Laura retorted, wiping some blood from a now healing scar on her face.

Logan did the same, but his scar was just now starting to heal.

"You heal too slow," Laura barked.

"Now there's something I haven't heard every ten minutes since we enter the danger room," Emma yawned sarcastically. She was tired, and she wasn't even the one fighting. But watching Laura and Logan sparring was extremely boring to her."Okay, let's pack in it for tonight and pick it up again tomorrow. I'm gonna go lie down, watching you two is making me nauseous,"

Emma shut down the programme and walked out of the danger room, yawning again as she left.

"One more round?" Logan suggested slyly.

Laura grinned back and nodded.

"Computer, programme session . . . . ," Logan began before a big red siren went off.

"Danger room has been looked till 5 am by 'E. Frost'," the room sounded.

"She knows me too well," Logan sighed as he and Laura reluctantly headed for the exit.

'_Yes I do Logan. Congrats for noticing,'_

* * *

_**New York City, a bank. 8:30pm.**_

"Okay everybody put your hands up! Just keep quiet and no one gets hurt!" a man wearing dark clothes and a pumpkin mask ordered as he and a few of his also masked buddies make their way into a bank, guns poised to fire.

One walked up to a female worker at a window and tried to seem charming, but the _blonde_ behind the counter who was facing away from him refused to turn around.

"Hey toots, trick or treat?" he smirked holding out a bag for her to load money into.

"Trick," Gemma answered as she jumped over the counter and kicked the goon in the stomach, knocking him to the floor.

"Hey! That's Splode from the X-Men! Let's get her!" The guy from before jeered.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Kitty shook her head as she phased up from the floor.

"You shouldn't hit girls," Johnny advised, blocking the back exist.

"Especially when she's got back up," Spiderman added, jumping down from the ceiling he'd been clinging to."What, pumpkin heads? The goblin is back? Again? But that's impossible. I saw him explode into a million pieces!"

"Save the monologuing to the pros and knock the Halloween spirit right out of these guys," Gemma instructed the web head, kicking one of the would-be bank robbers in the chest, knocking the wind out of him.

"Isn't it a little early? Or late? Either way it's still summer," Kitty pointed out, jumping into the air and kicking one guy in the jaw, causing him to collapse from."I hope that didn't hurt too bad,"

"There the bad guys Kitty. Who cares?" Johnny countered, melting the criminals shoes to the floor.

Kitty and Gemma raised their hands.

"Now I know," Johnny shrugged.

"Where's the goblin?! How did he escape? I want answers!" Spiderman shouted at one of the still conscious members of the money stealing brigade, holding him by his collar.

"Hang on a minute Spidey, I could just read his . . . . ," trailed off as Spiderman turned around and swung his arm, thinking it was another goon, accidentally sending Gemma flying across the room.

"Whoa, anger issues much!" Gemma growled as she pushed herself out of a Gemma shaped whole in the wall. She turned around and looked at it."Though that is kinda cool. Like a cartoon or something,"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Spiderman apologized.

"Don't sweat it, I have a healing factor. But watch it with the spider strength," Gemma sighed."And back off that guy, he doesn't know anything. He bought the mask from a costume shop because he needed a mask. No hob goblins in the troop,"

'_Nice going Petey. Toss your friend against a wall and freak out the others,'_ Peter Parker thought to himself as he dropped the scared man to the floor.

"Chris! Start up the van!" the first man called out to a van parked outside."Let's get the heck outta here!"

"I got leader boy over there," Gemma told Johnny.

"I got Chris," Johnny joined the plan.

He flew outside as Gemma took down the head honcho of the almost-thieves. Johnny pulled open the van door and saw that it was actually a woman, even though he face was covered he could still tell.

"Just get out of the car mam and you can just do your time and . . . . ," Johnny started.

"You know I don't like being called mam. And I'm too fust on doing time either," the woman replied as she removed her mask and revealed her true identity. Johnny's childhood friend."Hi John,"

"Christina?!" Johnny's jaw gaped.

Christina had long black hair that hung down her back and big blue eyes. She wore light jeans, knee length black boots, a black and white striped vest top and a skin hugging black leather jacket.

"That's right John. I decided to come back to the big apple. Was thinking about paying you a visit, but I guess I don't gotta worry about that now cutie," Christina pinched his cheek as she got out of the van.

"Johnny did you take out the . . . . ," Gemma stopped talking and just watched as she ran out of the bank.

"You know I've missed you while I've been on the road. Have you missed me?" Christina stepped dangerously close the mesmerised blonde.

"Yeh, yes," Johnny stammered.

"That's really sweet John," Christina leaned towards him.

Suddenly the van door closed and she was thrown against it and held there.

Gemma floated up to the confused black haired girl and towered over her, since she was in the air, "Hi, I'm Gemma I don't think we've been introduced. I'd give a speech about animal cruelty because of that leather jacket you're wearing, but I guess it evens out. One cow killed to clothe another,"

* * *

_**Charles Xavier's school for Gifted Youngsters, Medical Lab. 8:33pm.**_

Bobby returned to the institute lab with a cola to find Hank trying to calm Peter down.

"I'm sure I saw her eyelids move! I swear!" Peter insisted.

"You might have Peter, but you've been saying that for a while now, it may have just been a trick of the eye or . . . . ," Hank stuttered.

"No! I saw it! She's gonna wake up soon! Wake her up Hank!" Peter yelled.

"Pete let's just . . . . ," Bobby began.

"Calm down?! I'm tired of calming down! I know what I saw Bobby!" Peter growled.

A lightning bolt crackled through the lab.

"Let's just all take a breath, give each other some space, or this place is gonna be an indoor swimming pool by morning," Storm warned."Bobby, Peter, I think you two could use some time away from this place. Take a nap, watch some TV. You can come back in the morning. Then and only then,"

Bobby shrugged and left while Peter stood for a while, but then obeyed angrily.

"Are you hurt Hank?" Storm asked softly.

"No, no, just a little startled. I think Peter's feeling for Lindsay are as deep as mine for you," Hank thought aloud.

"Speaking of you and me. You could use a break too Hank. Why don't we go get something to eat in town? Let your mind rest a bit," Storm suggested.

"Are you sure it's wise to leave?" Hank looked concerned.

"Scientists and doctors have time off. Why should you be any different? You're a combination of both. If Gemma were hear she'd say that means you get twice the time off," Storm persuaded him.

"I suppose leaving for a few hours wouldn't be the worst thing in the world," Hank smiled."I'll go tell Logan or Emma we're leaving,"

"Already done," Storm informed.

"You knew I'd say yes?" Hank requested curiously.

"I was determined to get you to say yes," Ororo grinned.

"Where to then?" Hank queried.

"I saw a sea food place in town. We might even see Gemma and Kitty playing 'Teenage Vigilantes'," Storm suggested.

"Hopefully they won't have their backs against the wall, fighting for their lives," Hank hoped.

"The girls can take care of themselves. I'm sure of it," Ororo announced.

* * *

_**New York City, a bank. 8:35pm.**_

"What did you just call me?" Christina hissed.

"Did I stutter?" Gemma glared at her.

"Police are on their ways guys," Kitty informed, then she looked puzzled."What's going on?"

"Just making sure one of the robbers doesn't escape," Gemma shrugged.

"Gemma, why is Christina pinned against the van?" Johnny asked, coming back to earth.

"Why don't you tell me? You're her _best friend_," Gemma requested angrily.

"Would you just let her down?" Johnny sighed.

"She's _a_ _robber_. As in _stealing_. As in don't make a with drawl from _that_ bank anytime soon because if she has her way they're be nothing _left_," Gemma protested.

"Gemma," Johnny pleaded.

Gemma rolled her eyes and released her new enemy.

"She moves one inch and there's gonna be _Christina_ shaped hole in the wall," Gemma warned.

"Again, sorry about that," Spiderman apologized again.

"Gemma doesn't mind," Kitty assured him.

"_Yeah_, a busted spine's like coffee for me. It wakes me up," Gemma replied sarcastically."But seriously, I'm fine,"

"Well I guess this is where I make my exit. I'll see you later John. Indefinitely," Christina waved.

"Now so fast shifty," Gemma growled.

They were momentarily distract by the arrival of the police cars, but by the time Gemma and the others turned back around, Christina was gone.

"She got away," Gemma ground her teeth.

"Let he go. She just . . . . ," Johnny began.

"Mixed up? Fell in with the wrong crowd? Johnny's she's bad news," Gemma insisted.

"Whatever snooty," Christina called after her, showing the others that she was running down the street.

Gemma lifted her hand to stop her but Johnny pushed it back down and shook his head.

Kitty could've sworn Gemma looked slightly hurt by this. But the blonde shrugged it off and shot daggers with her eyes at Christina, settling for blowing up the girl's leather jacket.

"What did you do that for?" Johnny demanded.

Once again Gemma looked a little hurt, and once again she shrugged it off and snarled, "I was avenging the cow,"

With that she shot into the air, eye flashing red like they always did when she was angry, something not even Gemma understood, but this time, it was a more fiery red that ever before, and it wasn't just a quick flash like usual, this time Gemma's eyes were blazing with anger.

Johnny might've gone after her if she wasn't going so fast, so he just flew stubbornly home.

"So, it seems my 'lift' back to the institute has abandoned me," Kitty broke the tension that the couple had left behind.

Spiderman smiled at her.

* * *

_**Charles Xavier's school for Gifted Youngsters, Exterior. 8:50pm.**_

Spidey shot one more web, Kitty holding onto his torso, and they landed on the front step of the institute.

"Thanks for the escort," Kitty beamed shyly.

"No problem," Spidey grinned.

"I guess I'm not sure if I'll see you tomorrow considering," Kitty looked sad.

"Yeah, this doesn't look like this is gonna go away that easily," Spiderman rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

They stood there for a moment, enjoying the silence.

Kitty got an idea and lifted up the part of the web head's mask that covered his mouth and kissed him. She broke away and left the Spider dazzled.

"See you later Spidey," Kitty waved as she walked inside, leaving Spiderman standing there perplexed.

"Wow," Spiderman sighed, leaning against the door, unaware Kitty was saying and doing the exact same thing inside the mansion.

* * *

_**Charles Xavier's school for Gifted Youngsters, Danger room. **__**8:45pm.**_

"Computer, programme mission Gemma X," Gemma ordered.

"Danger room has been locked by . . . . ," the danger room began.

"Over-ride," Gemma scowled.

"Password," the danger room requested.

"Bobby get that burrito away from the controls," Gemma would've smiled if she weren't so angry.

Gemma remembered the day her father had set the voice activated password and that Bobby was in the danger room with him, making him say the wrong thing.

"Password excepted," the danger room announced.

The cold metal walls of the danger room were transformed into the ruins of an old castle, crumbling to pieces. Robots programmed to look like Apocalypse's guards came charging at her in groups of twenty. There were one hundred groups.

This place was one of Apocalypse's abandoned kingdoms, one of the many Gemma and the resistance had brought down. She remembered taking this particular one down where she was twelve, she'd accidentally sent a giant telepathic waved across the grounds, knocking buildings to pieces and anyone who she hadn't protect at the last second unconscious.

This time she sent telepathic blasts, wave after wave of explosives, teleported boulders and used them as things to knock her enemies down like bowling pins. This wiped out about half of the fleet, then she had to get creative.

Gemma telekinetically threw boulders and large pieces of the castle walls at the robots, then exploded them before they impacted to make huge explosions, getting rid of masses at a time.

Soon there were only one hundred robots left, and she planned to use the same cleanup plan she used back at the Weapon X. Just as she was about to execute her plan the danger room shut down.

Gemma looked up to see her parents staring down at her angrily.

"Busted," Gemma sighed to herself.

* * *

_**Baxter Building, Johnny Storm's room. 8:45pm.**_

Johnny flew threw his window and flopped on his bed. Her was irritable, angry, grumpy, worn out and annoyed. He rolled over to face the TV and flicked it on with the remote. Ah Sky Movies, there was always something on there. Whether he _wanted_ to watch any of the stuff that was on was a different matter, but he saw Hellboy was on and dropped the remote on the floor happily, kicking off his shoes at the same time.

'_And Sue said only women can multitask,'_ he thought.

"Thanks for the save back there John," a familiar voice called.

"Christina?!" Johnny yelled for the second time today, almost wetting himself.

"I told you I'd be seeing you soon," Christina reminded him as she sat on his bed.

"Okay 1) I thought you were just doing that to make Gemma angry, and 2) This is a lot sooner than you usually show up to talk to me. When was the last time we talked before tonight? Uh, three years ago!" Johnny moaned.

"I had to disappear for a while, but I'm back now," Christina assured him.

"Yeah? Well things have changed now," Johnny pouted.

"Oh have they?" Christina smirked.

"Yes. I have a girlfriend now," Johnny tried to make that clear.

"Bros of ho's," Christina shrugged."Besides, who means more to you? Me? Or _her_?"

Johnny thought for a moment. Crap. He actually thought about this. Gemma was gonna kill him for that.

"Look at you. You've been tamed John. By that blonde witch," Christina snickered.

"Now hang on a minute," Johnny began to protest, but Christina put a finger to his lips.

"Don't you wanna go have some fun like we used to before your girlfriend puts you back on your leash? We could go for a joyride in your car, smash a few mailboxes, go to the movies and talk loudly with our cell phones on full blast till we get thrown out. Rob a convenience store just for the thrill? Pleeeaaaaaasssssseee?" Christina begged persuasively.

"I don't know, maybe you should go," Johnny thought.

"Poor puppy's been on the leash so long he can't image life without it," Christina cooed mockingly.

"Fine! I'll go. But no robbing," Johnny finally gave in.

"We'll see," Christina grinned, knowing she'd got her way.

"I'll meet you in the garage in two minutes," Johnny promised.

"You got it flame brain," Christina ruffled his hair as she headed for downstairs.

When she was sure she was so far away from Johnny that he couldn't hear her, she pulled out her cell phone and called her boss.

"Hey bossy? It's Christina. The nit-wit bought it. I figure I'll take his around town for a bit, get him all hyped up, then we'll go visit his girlfriend and I'll have both of those living power supplies in the warehouse in two hours. Sound good?" Christina asked, pleased with herself.

"Sounds perfect Christina. These two will make perfect specimens for my next experiment," the voice sniggered.

"Sure Doctor Stryker. Sure,"

* * *

**So tah-dah! What do you think? Hope you guys enjoyed, it took me like three and a half hours to write. Review please! :^)**

_**Spectacular Spiderman – Season 2 Final Episode – The Osborne Penthouse**_

**Spiderman – And I saw Osborne Senior come out of the secret room behind that suit of armour.**

**Harry – You mean the wine cellar? That's not exactly a secret.**

***The Butler comes out of the wine cellar***

**Butler – Mister Osborne, Master Harry, Spiderman.**


	2. Simple Plan Saga : Time To Say Goodbye

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's Gemma, Brad, Vicki, Lizzie, Heather, Drake, Carlos, Sapphire, Christina, Max and Lindsay. No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

**Wolverine and the X-Men**

'**Gemma Logan 2 : The Problems of Mutant Teenagers'**

**The Simple Plan Saga : Time To Say Goodbye**

Key:

"Normal speech,"

'_Thinking,'_

'_**Telepathic conversations,'**_

"People from the future talking to those in the present,"

_**Xavier Institute, Kitchen. 9pm.**_

"Gemma, what the hell were you doing down there?!" Emma demanded as she leant on the kitchen counter, Logan doing the same on the other side of the room and Gemma sitting at the table with her head face down on the glossy wood, her hair spread out around her.

"And how did you get the danger room unlocked?" Logan looked interested, but forced himself to look angry when Emma glared at him.

Gemma lifted her head, the anger from before had dispersed a bit, but a share fest with the parents was not going to help that, "Answer to dad's question, since it's the simplest _to_ answer, I programmed the upgrades and the password is public knowledge to everyone but you. Answer to mom's question, blowing off steam and following in dad's footsteps. It was a rough night,"

Emma looked at her daughter in awe. But silently admitted to herself that Gemma had been dead on about following in her father's footsteps, "What was so rough that you had to rip yourself apart?"

"Hey Gemma! Remember me? Girl you left stranded after you stormed off?" Kitty asked, cheerfully entering the room.

"Sorry about that Kit," Gemma apologized with a weak smile."But it looks like you had a better night than I did,"

"The best!" Kitty exclaimed happily."What's going on?"

"We're trying to get to the bottom of why Gemma would over-ride the safety locks in the danger room and surpass even Logan's levels of reckless sessions," Emma ground her teeth together.

"You were that mad huh? I supposed the flaming red eyes should've been a clue, but you will not believe what happened after you left! Okay so I didn't have a way of getting home so . . . . ," Kitty began.

"Kitty! If you know something, do tell. If you don't, please have the girly conversation later," Emma snapped, cutting her off.

"Oh I know_ a lot_," Kitty informed."We were stopping a bank heist when Gemma told Johnny to go stop the driver of the getaway van. When me and Spidey finally came outside in turned out that the getaway driver was Johnny's old friend/girlfriend and that's probably why Gemma had her pinned to a van about to explode her head off,"

Wolverine smirked at that point but Emma gave him another glare and motioned for Kitty to continue.

"Then Johnny told Gemma to let her go, not gonna describe the look on Gemma's face at that point, and so Gemma let her go. But when she was running away Gemma exploded the girl's jacket and flew away hopping mad," Kitty finished, Wolverine smirking again at her final sentence.

"Kitty. I am going to murder you," Gemma growled quietly.

"What, either you told them or I did," Kitty shrugged.

"So why did you tell them and not me?" Gemma's eyes flashed red, but only for a second.

"Oh. That does make sense," Kitty agreed as she slowly move out of the room."Oh well, gotta go, bye!"

Gemma massaged her temples and Emma did the same, making Wolverine smirk for the third time in the past ten minutes.

"So you put that girl in her place then?" Wolverine couldn't stop from grinning.

Gemma's angry expression turned into a small smile. She loved her dad for being the way he was about things like this. Emma on the other hand . . . . ,

"So you took out your anger at someone else, on yourself?!" Emma growled.

"No, I took it out on the danger room robots," Gemma pointed out.

"You could've been hurt," Emma insisted.

"For like what, a minute? Healing factor," Gemma continued to point out the obvious.

"That's not the point," Emma continued.

"Then what is the point?" Gemma raised an eyebrow.

"The point is, the, the point is . . . . ," Emma fought to actually remember what her point was.

"The point is if someone makes you angry you shouldn't go into a full blown danger session like me," Logan saved her.

"Exactly," Emma nodded.

"Given time maybe, but until then you should take it out on the person who made you angry," Logan showed he hadn't finished talking.

"Logan," Emma sighed.

"I get it. It was a stupid thing to do and I shouldn't get worked up about it. I should just give Johnny the silent treatment next time I see him," Gemma joked, hugging her dad."Can I go now?"

"Sure kid, see ya later," Wolverine shrugged.

Gemma walked out of the kitchen and went off to find Kitty.

"How do you do that?" Emma's mouth gaped.

"I guess I just have better parenting skills that you do," Logan mocked.

* * *

_**New York City. 9:05pm.**_

Johnny and Christina rode along the streets of New York almost as fast as the flame brain could fly, and they were loving it.

"Can this car go any faster?" Christina shouted over the roar of the engine and the police cars on their tail. You didn't go that fast without drawing attention.

"Yeah, it can go _way_ faster," Johnny grinned as she stomped on the gas pedal, making them hurtle forward to cover an even greater distance.

"It's like being on a rollercoaster hot shot," Christina pretended to compliment."Hey, lose the cops and then park at a convenience store. I wanna get something to eat,"

Johnny shrugged as stepped out on it, then when he was sure the cops were long gone, he pulled into a nearby 7/11.

"Back in a sec," Christina smiled, then she muttered under her breath, "Time to test just how far I can push you,"  
______________________________________________________________________________

_**Xavier Institute, Hallway. 9:05pm.**_

Gemma slowly walked along the hallway away from the kitchen. She'd calmed down a bit now and there was something else on her mind. Something she forced herself to believe was more important.

Her powers were growing, and she knew it. Being powerful was extremely hard, it took a lot to keep a lid on things as she'd told her senseless boyfriend a while ago, and growing powers meant even more too control. Oh the ever increasing joy.

Gemma stopped to check her eyes out in the mirror, they were her normal sky blue beauties, back to normal.

This made Gemma wonder if maybe her eyes changed could because it was a flare of power, or if it was a new power all together. It could just be a power that showed her emotions threw colour. She'd have to check the next time she was happy _yeah right_, sad _duh,_ in love_ like that's gonna be happening anytime soon. Literal flaming chowder head!_

The blonde caught herself before she got worked up again and moved along the hallway, leaving the mirror and the thoughts that came with it behind.

'_Talk to Beast about increasing power, or TV?'_ Gemma debated in her head._ 'TV,'_

She turned to go into the living but saw Scott and Jean kissing, which made her want to hurl chunks, and went up the stairs to the bed rooms.

Most doors were shut which either meant 'I'm not here' or 'Disturb my privacy and die'.

Gemma rolled her eyes and continued to her room and flopped on her bed upon entering. She flicked on the TV and decided to watch the news because it probably was the only thing on TV that wasn't a repeat. Even though she was from the future and probably knew what was gonna be on the screen, but still. How else was her watching TV going to be slightly less repetitive?

'_Maybe I should go bake something. I haven't been to the homeless shelter in a while,'_ Gemma suggested to herself.

Suddenly a car chase came onto the screen and she saw a very familiar black car with red flames speeding through New York, police cars tailing and gaining on it quickly.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Gemma threw her hands up."Guess I better go bail out . . . . ,"

Gemma stopped her train of thought as she balanced her options. Help her annoying boyfriend who she was mad about, or bake some food for the homeless?

'_No brainer,'_ Gemma growled to herself as she headed to the kitchen._ 'Let's see Johnny get his own ass out of a situation for once,'_

* * *

_**New York City, 7/11 Parking Lot. 9:30pm.**_

'_Man, what is taking Chris so long?'_ Johnny kept checking his rear view mirror restlessly.

Christina burst out of the 7/11 and ran towards the car.

"Hey what took you . . . . ?" Johnny began.

"DRIVE!" Christina ordered, Johnny doing what he was told, but not before he looked back at the angry shop keeper running after his friend.

"Chris what did you do?!" Johnny demanded.

"I said drive!" Christina grabbed the wheel and slammed her foot on the pedal, making the car lurch forward and speed off into the night."When someone tells you to drive, you do it!"

"What did you do?!" Johnny repeated.

"So I got a little handsy with the products in the store. _Big deal_," Christina shrugged as sirens roared behind them.

"Yeah it's a big deal! Especially since we have cops on our tail now, and I'm a freaking superhero!" Johnny exclaimed.

"Cool it down hot shot. Isn't there somewhere we can hide till the heat dies down?" Christina asked, a knowing tone in her voice.

"I can't go back home if I'm on the run from the cops!" Johnny pointed out.

"How about your girlfriend's house? She loves you right? I'm sure she'll be more than happy to help you," Christina insisted, already subtly turning the wheel in the direction of Gemma's house.

"I dunno, she was pretty mad . . . . ," Johnny began.

"But she's your girlfriend," Christina grinned."She'll be _thrilled_ to see you,"

* * *

_**Xavier Institute, Exterior. 10:15pm.**_

Gemma yawned as she walked through the big gates of the X-Mansion, back from the homeless shelter. Gemma enjoyed going down there to help the people out. She was there so much everyone said hello to her when she came in the door.

The phone she'd gotten for Christmas started playing Britney Spears' 'Circus'.

'_I'm like the ring leader, I call the shots'_

'_Fits,'_ Gemma smirked to herself as she checked the number. _'Urgh, what does __**he **__want?'_

Reluctantly Gemma answered the phone. Who knows? Maybe Blondie was calling to apologize. "Hello?"

"Gemma, it's Johnny," came a voice from the other end.

"Well done for telling me dipstick, but I have caller I.D," Gemma replied harshly.

"I told you she wouldn't wanna talk to me," she could hear Johnny telling someone on his end of the line.

'_Ouch. Cut him some slack,'_ a part of her pleaded.

"Sorry, uh, what do you want?" Gemma quizzed more nicely.

"Well, me and Christina ran into a little trouble . . . . ," Johnny began.

"Christina?" Gemma narrowed her eyes.

'_I take it back. Don't cut him some slack. Cut him into a million pieces,'_ the same part from before growled.

Gemma hung up the phone and stomped inside.

'_Jerk,'_

* * *

_**New York City, Back Alley. 10:45pm.**_

"Gemma? Gemma are you still there?" Johnny asked the dial tone."I think she hung up,"

"Maybe she has bad service," Christina shrugged.

"No, I'm pretty sure she hung up," Johnny rolled his eyes.

"Or what if she got cut off because she's in trouble? Better go check it out," Christina lied dramatically.

"Chris, I just don't think she wants to talk to me," Johnny insisted.

"Would you be able to forgive yourself if something happened to her?" Christina pointed out.

Her only answer was Johnny putting his foot on the gas.

'_This is just too easy,'_ Christina smirked to herself.

* * *

_**Xavier Institute, Gemma Logan's Room. 11pm.**_

Gemma flung open her door and got ready for bed. She brushed her teeth, combed her hair, made sure the curtains was shut and her door was locked then climbed into bed and turned out the light.

It took all of five minutes for Johnny to burst through the window, holding Christina and flinging glass over everything . . . . including Gemma.

Since the light was turned off and Johnny had powered down, the only source of light was two red orbs, which with a quick click of a light switch, were revealed to be Gemma's eyes.

Gemma pulled shards of glass from her arms which healed as soon as the sharp objects were removed, and glared at them. When Gemma saw Johnny holding Christina, her eyes turned to a red as fiery as the phoenix used to be.

"Explanation. Now. While you guys still have the ability to breathe," Gemma requested in a frighteningly calm tone.

"I told you it wasn't bad reception," Johnny gulped, letting go of Christina when he saw that Gemma's eyes were fixed on him.

"Now," Gemma repeated, her voice level raising slightly.

"When the line went dead we came to check on you," Christina lied with ease.

"The line. Did not. Go dead," Gemma's voice turned from calm to deadly in an instant.

"Well, I can see we've made things slightly worse by this little visit, so how about we just come back the way we came," Johnny suggested wearily.

"Yes, you two jumping out of my two story window would make everything a little better," Gemma growled.

"That doesn't work for me," Christina grinned with confidence as she let off a knock out gas bomb as covered her face with a gas mask. She radioed the team that had been close by and then tossed the two blondes out of the window, where they were caught by several goons waiting at the bottom and carried into a van, Christina following in Johnny's car.

* * *

_**New York City, Abandoned Warehouse. 1am.**_

Gemma woke slowly but knew better than to open her eyes. She squinted a little to get a fuzzy picture then let her mind be her guide.

She was tied to a wall, Johnny was on the wall opposite, and there was a small wooden table in the middle with two metal chairs, one on either side. The walls were brick, the ground was concrete, and there was a reinforced steel door on one of the walls that weren't occupied.

"I see our second subject was awoken," a voice sounded from over the intercom, the owner of it coming through the door along with Christina.

"Ah, my plan is foiled. Not exactly the biggest pain in the butt today though," Gemma fixed her gaze on Christina."How's the dairy farm?"

Christina grunted angrily, walked over to Gemma and slapped her in the face.

"Wow, you hit like a girl," Gemma smirked, a little treacle of blood coming down her lip.

"Don't let her get inside your head Christina," the owner of the voice, a man in a beige trench coat advised.

"That would be a literal warning in my case," Gemma grinned.

"You wanna know what the biggest reason I'm doing this for is?" Christina asked as she punched Gemma in the stomach.

"I'm sure you're gonna tell me," Gemma coughed.

"This fancy inhibitor collar here stops you from healing. So any injury I cause you . . . . ," Christina paused for dramatic effect."You get to keep,"

"Sorry _Chrissie_ but I'm not like you. I always keep the gifts I get. And I _always_ return the favour," Gemma snarled.

"I don't see that happening," Christina smiled evilly as she slapped Gemma in the face again, obviously taking pleasure from it.

"Sadly, I do," Johnny added weakly.

He was beaten up really bad, and even though Gemma was mad at him, it pained her to see him like that.

"You're gonna pay for every last drop of blood spilled today, you stuck up, snooty little . . . . ," Gemma began vapidly.

"Ladies please, I have tests to run and experiments to complete. I do not have time for your childish feuds," the man in the trench coat interrupted.

"Would it be a breach of doctor patient confidentiality if you told me your name trenchy?" Gemma quizzed.

"I am Doctor William Stryker," Stryker introduced himself.

"Yet another friend of the family," Gemma looked as if she was about to be sick.

"You two know each other?" Christina looked surprised.

"We will," Gemma answered cryptically.

"You are Gemma Logan, the name means some sort of relation to Wolverine," Stryker grinned deviously.

"Third cousin twice removed," Gemma lied quickly.

"_Any_ family Wolverine has would be something he wouldn't want to lose. You are a key to his past," Stryker informed.

"More like a key to his future," Johnny muttered.

If it weren't for the fact that Johnny looked like hell, Gemma would've said something to make him feel like he were in it right around then, but she settled for, "Quiet,"

"Does Gemmy have a secret?" Christina pretended to coo.

"Gemmy's got a bunch of secrets," Gemma replied coyly."For instance, I could snap your neck in ten seconds flat with only the use of my two big toes,"

Christina flinched but tried to keep her cool."Like father like daughter,"

"Does your father look as ugly as you? Or was that on your mother's side?" Gemma cocked her head challengingly.

Christina was about to slap her again when Doctor Stryker grabbed her hand.

"Do not damage the subject," Stryker warned.

"You heard the man Christina. I'm valuable to the doc. What does that make you? A lackey?" Gemma provoked her.

"Oh you little . . . . ," Christina began furiously.

"CHRISTINA! I think it would be best if you busied yourself with other missions while I interrogate the subjects," Doctor Stryker intervened.

"Run along now pumpkin," Gemma pretended to smile sweetly.

Christina glared at her, but then he expression turned smug."Okay then, but first,"  
Christina walked over to Johnny and kissed him on the lips.

Gemma could've sworn she saw Johnny kissing back. Was he nuts? Cheating was one thing. Cheating in front of her was another. But cheating on her with his psycho ex-girlfriend in a flying freaks experimentation lab? That was on a level so out of this world it was in another galaxy!

Her eyes flashed a dark blue, which by her colour scheme she assumed meant sadness with a large tint of anger. Perfect.

The red light on her inhibitor collar turned off and as Doctor Stryker's eyes were on the Christina, and Christina and Johnny were staring at each other, no-one noticed her turn invisible.

"Christina! Your distraction has allowed one of the subjects to escape!" Doctor Stryker screamed as he walked towards Gemma's changed.

"Not quite Doc," Gemma turned visible again as she kicked Doctor Stryker in the chest, knocking him back. Gemma teleported out of the chains, using the element of surprise to kick Stryker repeatedly, bruising him badly and knocking him out.

Christina stopped kissing Johnny long enough to realise what was going on. She began to slowly head for the door.

"Freeze," Gemma shouted, as she held Christina in place with her telekinesis."You don't get to just walk out of here scot free,"

"Gemma, just let her . . . . ," Johnny started.

"I'm not hearing this. I can't be hearing this," Gemma shook her head in disbelief."She pulls all this crap and I still have to listen to this? You know what? Stay here. Make out. Play checkers. I don't care anymore,"

With that Gemma teleported away to a place she knew she could hang out for a bit without having to deal with all of that.

She knocked on the door and stood shivering in the cold.

"Don't you know knocking on someone's door at 2 in the morning for any other reason than that their house is on fire is really annoying," the voice yawned, then his eyes opened in surprise. "Gemma?"

"Hey Pietro. Can I crash at your place tonight? Got a bunch of problems I really need to run from," Gemma forced a smile.

"Well you came to the right place. Just make sure you knock on every door in the house before you leave or enter a room. Blob walks around in his underwear _a lot_," Pietro smirked, stepping aside so Gemma could come in.

Gemma laughed genuinely as she came into the house.

"Oh, and Toad's going have a fit since you're staying here," Pietro warned.

As if on cue Toad came hopping around the corner.

"Gemma! What're you doing here?" Toad asked happily as he picked up Gemma and hugged her.

"Losing oxygen fast," Gemma pretended to gasp.

"Oh, sorry," Toad put her down."But seriously, are you joining the brotherhood?!"

"I didn't know there still _was_ a brotherhood," Gemma eyed Pietro suspiciously.

"Quit with the accusing eyes, we still go by the brotherhood if Wanda has a job for us," Pietro assured her.

"Yeah, Wanda's made us like, the police of Genosha or something," Toad nodded.

"It's something to pass the time," Pietro shrugged.

"Are you saying you don't feel all warm and fuzzy when you help out everybody?" Gemma teased.

"Yeah, I'm a big fluffy kitten on the inside," Pietro rolled his eyes."Guest room's down the hall, I'm going back to bed,"

"Nighty night silver," Gemma waved."See ya in the morning Morty,"

* * *

_**Baxter Building. 11am.**_

Gemma stood nervously in the elevator that would take her up to the Fantastic Four's apartment. After an _extremely_ heartfelt goodbye to the brotherhood, Gemma decided it was time to face the music and come here.

The button dinged and Gemma stepped out, peering around the room timidly, a sickening feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Gemma, hi," Susan waved, confused as to why Gemma seemed so scared.

"Susan! Hey!" Gemma breathed a sigh of relief.

"What are you doing here?" Susan smiled.

'_Aw crap,'_ Gemma thought, starting to wish Susan wasn't here."I uh, came to see Johnny. He's here right?"

"Uh huh," Susan nodded."In his room,"

"Okay then, so I'll just be going there," Gemma smiled awkwardly at why she was _actually_ here for, even if part of what she'd said _had_ been true.

"Are you okay?" Susan looked concerned.

"Fine, just fine," Gemma waved as she walked down the hall to Johnny's room.

She knocked slowly on the door and half expected Christina to answer. That would actually make this a whole lot easier. But alas, it was Johnny, and he was alone.

"Gemma! Where did you go last night?! I tried to call your cell phone but it said the line didn't exist," Johnny looked relieved to see her.

'_Stop pretending like you care you jerk!'_ Gemma sighed to herself."Must've falling out of my pocket when I was flying,"

In reality she'd taken a detour to the Grand Canyon before going to the brotherhood's house so she could drop it over the edge in frustration.

"So, about last night, before you flew off . . . . ," Johnny began.

"Johnny, I have something I need to say," Gemma held up her hand. _'Here we go,'_

"Okay," Johnny looked as if he already knew why she was here, and he wasn't too happy about it.

"I don't think this is gonna work anymore," Gemma gulped, trying to think of the least painful way to do this. Crap, there wasn't one."After . . . . recent events, I don't think we should go out anymore. It, it's over,"

"But, but I love you," Johnny tried to protest."Look me in the eye and tell me you don't feel the same thing,"

"We both know I can't do that, but it's not enough," Gemma looked at her shoes.

"Us loving each other isn't enough for you?!" Johnny shouted.

"Don't make this about me! Things were just fine until your stupid ex showed up! And back at the warehouse, I'm pretty sure I saw team spirit from you and Christina in that freaking kiss!" Gemma yelled back. Forget making this easy, they were doing this the hard way! So that was like what, a week crying in her room? Oh yay.

"Me and Christina are just friends!" Johnny exclaimed.

"So you and that kidnapping psycho path are gonna keep in touch after all this?! How touching!" Gemma threw her hands up.

"Well not now obviously!"

"So the 'let her go' from last night didn't mean anything then?"

"I wanted her to get away because we used to be friends,"

"Yeah, the kidnapping, boyfriend stealing, cow killing witch really has a great way of returning the favour!"

"Stop calling her names!"

"Stop defending her!"

"She's my . . . . ,"

"You're what?! And now once again, I don't care! Goodbye Johnny!" Gemma screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"And now you're just gonna run away?" Johnny called after her.

"I'm not running. Do you see me running? It's called walking genius! Stop wrestling with Ben before you lose the few brain cells you have left!" Gemma growled as she slammed the button for the lift.

"Gemma, Johnny, what's all the noise about?" Reed asked, coming out of his lab.

Gemma realised that the lift wouldn't get here fast enough, so she teleported outside of the building.

Johnny was there waiting for her.

"What?!" Gemma snarled, she would've shouted but the sobs were stifling her voice.

"Are you really just gonna walk away and leave it like this?" Johnny folded his arms.

"Well I'm sure as hell not gonna try to 'work it out' after all this," Gemma choked on her tears.

Johnny thought for a moment, then stepped out of her way.

Gemma glared at him as she walked past.

"We're not over yet!" Johnny shouted after her.

Gemma stopped in her tracks, fists clenched and exploded Johnny's hair.

"We've as over as you are bald!" Gemma snapped, teleporting away.

She reappeared in her room and collapsed on her bed. _'Great way to end it,'_

* * *

Review please! :^)


	3. Simple Plan Saga : Save You

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's Gemma, Brad, Vicki, Lizzie, Heather, Drake, Carlos, Sapphire, Christina, Max and Lindsay. No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

**Wolverine and the X-Men**

'**Gemma Logan 2 : The Problems of Mutant Teenagers'**

**The Simple Plan Saga : Save You**

Key:

"Normal speech,"

'_Thinking,'_

'_**Telepathic conversations,'**_

"People from the future talking to those in the present,"

_**Xavier Institute, Kitchen. Two days after last chapter, 8am.**_

"Logan, what are we going to do about Gemma? We can't even get inside her room to talk to her and she's locked the danger room to keep herself from doing something stupid, so we can't do training sessions. This depression is getting out of hand," Emma sighed as she drank her tea, Logan sitting across from her drinking beer, making Emma continuously think, _'It's only eight o'clock!'_

"Well, I could try clawing her door down, but she'd just teleport someone else. She wants to be left alone, let's leave her alone. The kid needs some time," Logan suggested.

"Time for what? She's probably cried every tear possible and how's she getting food? For all we know our daughters wasting away to nothing in there! She's blocked me from her thoughts and even mine and Jean's combined efforts can't break her barriers," Emma rubbed her temples in frustration.

"Well, she's a teleporter, so she'll just be teleporting food to herself. And she can't die because of the healing factor, and Xavier said she's the most powerful telepath in the world, so no wonder you can't break through. Fact is Em, we can worry about her, but we can't actually do anything to help her if she doesn't want us to. So we have no choice but to leave her alone. Gemma's strong, she'll figure it out," Logan shrugged.

"If you're wrong, I'll shoot you with a cure dart, then a real gun," Emma warned as she walked out of the room to try for the 70th time to open the danger room. The scary thing was . . . . she sounded serious.

* * *

_**Xavier Institute, Outside Gemma's Room. 8:15am.**_

"Hey Gemma, I know I've asked you this every day, but do you feel like opening the door today?" Rogue quizzed the wooden door, Bobby and Kitty standing beside her.

"You know, you keep asking her to come out, why don't you just ask if you can come in?" Scott pointed out as he came down the hall.

"That's a stupid idea," Rogue dismissed it.

"Worth a shot. Hey Gemma? Can I come in?" Bobby requested.

Bobby was suddenly teleported inside Gemma's room.

"Apparently not Rogue!" he called, then he saw Gemma sitting on the floor in the corner of her balcony, staring at the railings.

She didn't look like she'd been crying, though the bin _was_ stuffed with tissues and empty boxes. She was wearing a black t-shirt, black jeans and a black leather jacket with black trainers, her blonde hair blowing in the wind, her eyes closed, enjoying the peace. She didn't look sad, she actually looked sort of . . . . calm.

"Hey," Gemma spoke calmly, opening her eyes and staring straight in front of her, as if she was fascinated by the railing.

"Hi," Bobby replied awkwardly. A crying Gemma he could handle, but a weirdly calm Gemma? That was uncharted territory."Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just enjoying the breeze. How about you?" Gemma questioned, as he sat next to her.

"I'm . . . . okay what's with the whole pleasant thing? You've been locked in your room for two days and you're asking _me_ how _I _am?" Bobby cut to the chase.

"Force of habit," Gemma shrugged."You ever wonder why the sky's blue? I've been thinking about it, but I'm drawing a blank. But if it was any other colour, people would think Armageddon was coming, because it would be unusual. People don't like unusual, it scares them. I should know, I can hear them thinking it,"

"Yeah," Bobby nodded, a little freaked by the weird comment.

"I'm not crazy. I know that's what you're thinking. I'm just, observing. When you're alone, you have time to think. And I've been thinking, since people don't like unusual, they probably like what they're used to. Maybe Johnny likes Christina so much because that what he's used to. And me, I'm unusual. And like I said before, people don't like unusual," Gemma filled in the gaps to her deranged ramblings."But what people don't realise is, unusual isn't so crazy about them either,"

"Gemma, Johnny doesn't dislike you because you're unusual. He does even dislike you. He wrecked stuff between you because he's a tool, with a stupid haircut," Bobby answered.

Gemma laughed a little."He doesn't have a stupid haircut _anymore_. He doesn't even have_ hair_,"

"Huh?" Bobby looked confused.

"I exploded his hair when I broke up with him. He was annoying me," Gemma shrugged again.

"You exploded his hair?!" Bobby grinned.

"Yeah," Gemma nodded.

Bobby burst out laughing, and Gemma rolled her eyes, but she was laughing slightly too.

"So have you just been sitting up here thinking for two days?" Bobby requested after his laughter died down a bit.

"Well, first day was crying and sad movies. Yesterday was exploding everything Johnny every gave me, so anger day. And today is serenity day," Gemma replied, tears streaming down her face unknown to her."I was going through the e-motions, trying to get over it, and I thought it was working, but apparently even thinking about it is bringing me back to day one. Pathetic huh?"

"No, not pathetic. Just normal," Bobby smiled, putting his arm around her.

"Whatever," Gemma sniffled, leaning her head on her best friend's shoulder."The famous Gemma Logan, fearless leader, daughter of James Logan and Emma Frost, two of the greatest X-Men in the world, crying about a stupid break up. It's so lame,"

"Again, just normal," Bobby sighed. Cheering Gemma up wasn't going very well. In fact, he'd probably made it worse. At least before he came she was sitting calmly on the balcony, now she was sitting sobbing and feeling like crap. Score one for the iceman, he was _great_ at this.

"Hey, stop thinking that. There's only room for one self pitting blonde on this balcony," Gemma smirked.

"Fine, I'll go dye my hair," Bobby joked.

Gemma let out a giggle."See, you're getting better at this every second,"

For a while they just sat there, Gemma's head still on Bobby's shoulder, and his arm still around her. It was nice. And it was a little weird how normal it felt.

Bobby shook his head slightly. What was all that about? He looked at Gemma, hoping she wasn't reading his mind right now, hearing all that mushy stuff, but fortunately, she seemed to be thinking again. Her tears had dried up now, and she was staring calmly at the railing again. Her hair was gleaming in the sunlight and a little wet from crying. Even when she was upset Gemma still looked beautiful. Whoa, whoa, whoa, not this again. What was with him? Calling his best friend beautiful? This was crazy . . . . and true, wait no. Stop thinking that. Stop thinking that!

"Bobby?" Gemma suddenly spoke up.

'_Oh crap,'_ Bobby thought."Hmmm?"

"Why are you screaming at yourself in your head? I can't make out what you're saying, but it's kinda giving me a migraine," Gemma looked at him curiously.

"Just . . . . thinking. Like you were," Bobby tried to cover up what he was thinking.

"Okayyyy," Gemma raised her eyebrows, but she turned back to the railing.

"Hey Gemma?" Bobby quizzed.

"Uh huh?" Gemma replied.

"Are you gonna actually leave your room today?" Bobby questioned.

"Why, you got plans?" Gemma grinned.

"Well Emma and Logan are practically falling apart without the danger room, thanks for eliminating training sessions by the way, so you could open that again. Then I guess we'd just do what we usually do. Watch TV, go to the movies, get hit by Rogue's car on the way back," Bobby listed.

"Ah Rogue's driving, more dangerous than any villain we've come up against," Gemma smiled."I'd rather just sit,"

"Fine, let's go_ sit_ at on the seats at the movies. Or on the couch. Or we could go sightseeing around New York, I've never actually been to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island before . . . . ," Bobby suggested.

"Ellis Island huh? Maybe. I'd rather go ice-fishing," Gemma mused.

"In New York?" Bobby looked confused.

"No, I mean get on a plane and fly to Antarctica, or I could just teleport us there," Gemma shrugged.

"You're serious, we're just randomly going to go ice-fishing?" Bobby asked in disbelief.

"Do you have anything better to do?" Gemma pointed out.

"Okay, fine. So who's going?" Bobby admitted defeat.

"Whoever wants to. It's not like it's invitation only. In fact, I think we should all go. Peter needs to get out of the house," Gemma insisted as she stood up, Bobby getting up with her.

"Time to brave the outside world," Bobby teased.

"Gees, will you hold my hand?" Gemma giggled as they walked to the door.

Gemma opened it and Kitty and Rogue fell to the floor.

"Hi there," Gemma offered them a hand up."Wanna go ice-fishing?"

* * *

_**Xavier Institute, Medical Lab. 1pm.**_

"I can't believe we're doing this! It'll be freezing!" Emma complained.

"Emma, that's what a coat's for," Logan rolled his eyes.

"She's probably just afraid she'll blend into the scenery," Jean snickered from where she and Scott were standing. Suddenly she grabbed her head and muttered, "Uhhhhnnnnnnnn,"

"Headache Jean? Poor girl," Emma called, and Logan couldn't help but smirk.

"Peter, come on! You have to get out of the lab! Lindsay'll be fine! She's not going anywhere," Gemma pleaded.

"But what if she wakes up while we're gone? What if the mansion's attacked?" Peter listed all the reasons this could go wrong.

"The mansion's defences are on, no-one's gonna get to her. Now please? For your sanity? This place must be driving you nuts!" Gemma whined."Kitty's staying behind with Tilde and Max and Spiderman . . . . ,"

"Which I'm not so crazy about," Wolverine interrupted.

"So she won't be alone," Gemma continued as if he hadn't said anything."Pppllleeeaaassseee?!"

"Alright fine. But Kitty if she wakes up, you call me straight away right?" Peter agreed.

"Don't worry Peter, if she so much as flinches, you'll be the first to know," Kitty assured him.

"So, are we air-bound or just teleporting?" Bobby quizzed.

"What's the time difference again?" Rogue quizzed.

"Antarctica's eighteen hours ahead so if it 13:00 here plus 18 equals 31. 31 take away 24 is 7, so it's 7 o'clock tomorrow morning over there," Gemma deduced."And we're already here,"

The others looked around to see they were surrounded by snow and ice, with penguins a little way away.

"Aw, they're so cute," Rogue cooed.

"Yeah, starting to regret this trip," Forge pointed at his cold as ice mechanical parts. Being a cyborg was hard sometimes.

"Let's build an igloo!" Gemma shouted excitedly.

"Please stop trying to cause an avalanche," Bobby pleaded.

"Oh sorry," Gemma smiled.

"Can you see me? I can't see me!" Emma yelled angrily, he white clothing blending into the snowy scene.

Jean burst out laughing at that."Told you so,"

"Emma, yes I can see you," Logan rolled his eyes.

"Who wants to make a snowman?" Rogue squealed, overcome with excitement.

"Okay, Rogue, Forge, Beast and Storm can make snowmen. The rest of us'll start building an igloo," Gemma assigned jobs."This is gonna be so much fun!"

Bobby gave her a awkward smile. He was thinking about her being pretty again. And for some reason Gemma being happy made him happy too, which was incredibly weird. But it felt normal. Which felt weird. And that same paradox just kept repeating in his mind. Over and over again. What was going on? Did he like Gemma? Did he have feelings for her? Or was all of this just coming up because she'd be upset? Had it been here all along? Since the first day he met her? Was this why all of his relationships kept failing, because he was in love with Gemma? Those were some pretty big conclusions, and he'd need some time to think about it. Hopefully without the others noticing. Why did there have to be three telepaths on this trip? Days like this he was glad the Professor was still in a coma. Otherwise that'd be a _fourth_ telepath to deal with!

* * *

_**Xavier Institute, Hall. 1:30pm NY time, 7:30am Antarctica time.**_

As Kitty waiting for Spiderman to show up, she remembered the last time she'd babysat Tilde, and how well that'd turned out. Here's hoping there were no more mechanical spider attacks today. At least it there was Spiderman would be there to help her out. Maybe she should stop calling him Spiderman and just call him Peter? They'd revealed their secret identities to each other over the past few days, which was refreshing because Kitty hadn't really told anyone outside of the X-Men and her family who she really was.

It was also a little weird for her that she was dating yet _another_ guy named _Peter_. But she'd gotten over it. It wasn't the name that counted, it was the person behind the name.

The doorbell rang and Tilde and Max came running downstairs to answer it.

"Don't you think since it's probably Peter that _I_ should answer the door," Kitty smiled.

The two kids thought for a moment, nodded and then ran into the living room to jump on the couch. Ah babysitting, the joy of teenage life. NOT.

Kitty smoothed down her hair and opened the door, her heart giving a little leap when she saw Peter, even though she'd already known it would be him.

"Hiya! Ready to babysit?" Kitty questioned nervously.

"Yeah, hey by the way, my Aunt May told me to invite you over for dinner sometime because she wants to meet you," Peter informed as he came inside.

"Meh, meet your aunt?" Kitty looked nervous. Normally the whole 'meet the family' thing didn't really apply to the X-Men.

"Don't freak out, it's just dinner," Peter grinned calmingly.

"Okay, I guess dinner with your aunt might now be so bad. How about next week?" Kitty suggested.

"Great, oh and they'll be a few of my friends there too," Peter added quickly.

"Uh huh, who and how many?" Kitty requested as they entered the living room.

"Just Harry, Mary-Jane and Gwen. They wanna meet you too," Peter answered like it was no big deal.

"Okay, I can handle four people. They're nice right? Not the kind of people who start judging you as soon as you come through the door. And how do they feel about mutants? Gosh what if I accidentally phase through the table?!" Kitty started to panic.

"They're nice, they're not the judging type, and I want them to meet the real you. Table phasing and all," Peter smirked as they sat on the couch."Besides, I've met you're friends,"

"You've met _one_ of my friends. And technically you met Gemma before you met me," Kitty pointed out.

"Don't worry about it, they're gonna love you," Peter assured her.

"If this was a TV show you'd have totally just jinxed us," Kitty smiled.

"Good thing this isn't a TV show then," Peter beamed.

* * *

_**Antarctica, who knows. 4:30pm NY time. 10:30am Antarctica time.**_

"Okay building an igloo, harder than I thought," Gemma sighed as they finished making their shelter.

"Well we did have to make three since you kept cracking the ice to making a hole for us to ice fish in," Peter pointed out.

"And it does have to hold all eleven of us," Forge agreed.

"Well at least it's done now and we're slightly warmer," Emma shivered.

"We must've made like eight snow men!" Rogue boasted.

"Would've been nine if we hadn't started a snowball fight," Forge laughed.

"Yeah, thanks for hitting me in the head _five _times!" Peter teased.

"Accident?" Rogue shrugged innocently.

"_Five_ times?" Peter raised his eyebrows.

Gemma glanced over at Bobby. He'd been awfully quiet through all this, and she couldn't read his thoughts properly.

"You okay? I've barely heard you say one word since got here," Gemma asked, moving to sit next to him.

"What?" Bobby shouted, coming out of his daze.

"What _is_ going on in there?" Gemma knocked on his head.

"Oh nothing, just daydreaming," Bobby lied.

"You're not having fun?" Gemma looked a little sad.

"No, no. Barrels of laughs! Really, I just . . . . couldn't find the words to say how happy I was so I didn't say anything," Bobby insisted, blushing a little at how rubbish his excuse was. For some reason here being even the teeniest bit sad pulled on his heart strings. Not again. This was getting wayyy too normal/weird for him.

Gemma gave him a funny look, then shrugged and queried, "Wanna see if we've caught anything yet?"

"Sure, sure," Bobby nodded, earning him another funny looked as he and Gemma checked the fishing poles.

"So far, not so good," Gemma sighed.

"Well maybe we should just go home," Emma piped up, making Logan shake his head.

"Okay, next time, we'll go to Ellis Island," Gemma grinned at Bobby.

Bobby gave her a nervous smile and mentally kicked himself for being so abnormal around Gemma now. But at least he'd determined what was going on with him.

After three hours of figuring this out, he'd came to a conclusion about him and Gemma. They were friends, best friends, and . . . . like a cheesy rom-com he'd somehow fallen in love with his best friend without knowing it. Well at least in the movies the friends ended up getting together in the end right? Urgh, this was so frustrating. But it was true, although he'd deny it if asked, Bobby Drake was in love with his best friend, so bring on the cheesy romantic music and the awkward moments! This was going to be one hell of a week.

* * *

_**Xavier Institute, Medical Lab. 11:30pm.**_

Hours after the X-Men had arrived back from Antarctica and Spiderman had gone home, a redish pink circle was drawn on the exterior wall that lead to the medical lab of the Xavier Institute and silently blown up.

The intruder then quietly put the person sized circle beside the wall and climbed in.

The light in the room was off and there was only one other person in the room, lying in a hospital bed, never stirring, never moving, just lying there.

The intruder walked slowly over to the bed and looked down at the dark haired girl lying almost lifelessly still. He smoothed back her hair and knelt next to the bed.

"Cher, I knew it was bad, but I never thought I'd see you looking this weak," the intruder sighed, looking at the girl's incredibly pale face."Lindsay, I need you to wake up. Your little brother's probably missing you so much his little heart'll burst if you don't open your eyes soon. Plus what about all your friends? It's probably not the same around this giant house without your smile. And if you don't wake up soon, people might start to lose hope, and then who'll take care of your brother?"

Nothing.

"Okay, if none of that means much in your pretty little head right now, then just wake up for me, even if it's only to punch me in the face for coming back into your life," the intruder cocked his head to one side hopefully, and after a few moments of nothing, he got up and kissed Lindsay on the forehead."Please wake up soon Cher,"

With one last look the intruder walked over to the whole and stuck one foot out into the night, ready to go home, until her heard something. The quiet noise of someone's finger twitching.

"Cher?" he began, climbing back in and rushing to Lindsay's side.

First one finger twitched, then another, then another, and then one whole hands worth of fingers started twitching. Lindsay lifted her hand up to her head, rubbing it, and then slowly opened her eyes.

"Gambit?" she called weakly.

"Well would you look at that, the kiss of life and it wasn't even on the lips," Remy smirked.

"Am, am I dead? No, I think I'm just hopped up on medical drugs. Or both, if that's possible," Lindsay shook her head as she opened her eyes to slowly clearing blurry vision."What are you doing here?"

"Well I had to come see you in your time of need, didn't I? Couldn't just leave you here to wake up alone," Gambit smiled.

"I'm alone? No one came to see me but you?" Lindsay swung her legs off the bed and tried to get up.

Gambit took her hands, "Now, now Cher. Just because you're awake doesn't mean you can go running around the mansion. You should get some sleep,"

Lindsay stood up fully, not letting go of Gambit's hands and replied, "That's all I've been doing for . . . . I don't even know how long,"

"3 months I think. Not that I'm really in the know anymore," Gambit grinned.

Lindsay smiled back at him, "So of all the people who could come visit me it turns out my ex-boyfriend is the only one who could spare the time? Won't Belladonna be waiting for you at home?"

"If she is she'll be waiting a long time. We're divorced Cher," Gambit informed.

"What?" Lindsay looked surprised.

"Do you really think I'd risk coming here to possible have my heart ripped out if I was still married to her?" Gambit gave her a look that said 'How stupid do you think I am?'

"And when did all this happen?" Lindsay quizzed.

"The day after you left. Well technically I told her I wanted a divorce while you went to that bar, but the legal stuff started after you left," Gambit shrugged."To be honest I left New Orleans to get away from her, and I was gone so long I guess I kind of forgot about her,"

"And I wonder why that was?" Lindsay beamed.

"I think you already know the answer to that one Cher," Gambit gave her a big smile as he lowered his head to her level and kissed her.

After what seemed like forever, they broke apart, leaving Lindsay a little weak in the knees.

"See Cher, I told you that you needed some sleep," Gambit reminded Lindsay as he sat he down on the bed.

"Okay, maybe five minutes," Lindsay yawned.

"Bye Lindsay," Gambit waved as he climbed back out the hole and put the circle back in it's place as if it'd never been removed in the first place.

"Bye Gambit," Lindsay whispered as she went off to sleep.

* * *

_**Xavier Institute, Medical Lab. 9am.**_

Lindsay smiled to herself as she woke up that morning. She stretched her arms out without opening her eyes and yawned. She wondered if Gambit was still there. Or if it had all been a dream.

Instead of opening her eyes to see that annoyingly sweet Cajun's face, she was met with three shocked stares from Hank, Ororo and Peter.

'_Oh no. It was a dream wasn't it?'_ Lindsay panicked for a moment, until she looked over to the place where she assumed the hole Gambit had came in through. The wall looked untouched apart from three dots and a wavy line. Two dots formed eyes, the other a nose, and the wavy line was a smile. All together it made one big smiley face.

Lindsay got even stranger looks from the other three people in the room when she burst out laughing. Why you might be wondering? For one, the smiley face itself just made her want to giggle, and secondly, there was a tad bit of irony in last night. Gambit had come in through a hole in the wall to see her, and one of Lindsay's last thoughts about Gambit when she'd left New Orleans was 'I wish he'd crawl back into whatever hole he came out of'.

So for a while she laughed at those little things, if was a short period where she could be happy, before she had to deal with the triangle of her, Gambit and Peter.

* * *

**So, love it? Hate it? Leave me a review and tell me about it! :^)**


	4. Open Your Eyes To Love

This chapter was inspired by the song 'Open your eyes to love' by LMNT.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's Gemma, Brad, Vicki, Lizzie, Heather, Drake, Carlos, Sapphire, Christina, Max and Lindsay. No copyright infringement intended.

* * *

**Wolverine and the X-Men**

'**Gemma Logan 2 : The Problems of Mutant Teenagers'**

**Open Your Eyes To Love**

Key:

"Normal speech,"

'_Thinking,'_

'_**Telepathic conversations,'**_

"People from the future talking to those in the present,"

_**Xavier Institute, 5am. Danger room. Three days after last chapter, Monday.**_

"Urgh, why did you have to unlock the danger room? Why?!" Kitty moaned as she and the rest of Xavier's tired teens slumped into the danger room.

"Why did we go ice fishing? Why do we do a lot of things Gemma wants to do? My bets on mind control," Bobby grinned.

Gemma rolled her eyes at Bobby. He'd been a little weird around her lately, but he seemed to have gotten over whatever it was. Either that or he'd gotten better at hiding it. And what was he hiding? She couldn't read his mind, it was like he'd shoved a huge padlock on the door to his mind.

"Okay, today's session is going to be a game of handball. _Emma_ wants to work on teamwork, so no powers," Logan called, glaring at Emma who just smirked."It has elements from netball, basketball and football. The netball element? Its, unfortunately, a none contact sport. Basketball? You can dribble it three steps before you have to pass it to someone. Football? You score points by hitting the goal. But its handball so no kicking, just throwing,"

"At 5am? Now I'm mad at me," Gemma sighed.

"Get in line," Rogue groaned.

"Lindsay, are you sure you should be participating in training sessions already? You only woke up three days ago," Peter asked the dazed girl.

Snapping herself out of her daydream about Gambit, Lindsay replied thoughtlessly, "What? Oh yeah I'm fine, how are you?"

Bobby shot Gemma a 'Huh?' look, to which she responded with a confused shrug.

"Lindsay, were you even listening?" Peter looked puzzled.

"Listening to what Peter?" Lindsay looked dumbfounded.

Now_ that_ was weird. Lindsay never called Peter his full name, it was usually just 'Pete'.

"Are you feeling okay?" Peter looked concerned.

"I'm great, never better," Lindsay nodded, drifting off again.

'_Lindsay, 5am training sessions with flying objects and daydreaming don't mix,'_ Gemma told her friend telepathically.

"Oh, right," Lindsay slapped her forehead.

"Strange girl," Bobby pretended to shake his head dismissively.

"Back to the training session. Teams will be as follows:

Blue Team: Splode, X-23, Iceman and Espina.

Green Team: Rogue, Kitty, Forge and Colossus.

Black Team: Storm, Scott, Logan and Jean," Emma tossed the teams their jerseys.

"Uh, green really isn't my colour," Kitty looked at the jerseys she'd been given."I'm more of a blue. Hey Gemma, wanna trade?"

"The teams will stay as they are! No trading. And there's not that many of you, plus I'll a telepath, so I'll know if you try," Emma barked from the control booth.

Suddenly a phone started to ring.

"Who's phone is that?!" Emma demanded.

"Who brings their cell phone to a 5am training session?" Gemma whispered to Bobby.

"Uh, me. But it's not mine," Bobby replied, making Gemma smirk.

"Emma, I'm pretty sure that's the house phone," Logan called up to her.

"Ooh! Who is it?!" Lindsay and Kitty squealed at the same time.

"I know who I want it to be, why are _you_ squealing?" Kitty looked confused.

"Just curious," Lindsay blushed.

"Hello, Xavier Institute, how can I help you?" Emma asked, picking up the phone.

"She sounds so professional," Gemma giggled.

"Excuse me, who may I ask is calling? . . . . Yes I suppose we could make it if he really wants us there. What time does it start? . . . . And where did you say it was being held? . . . . Okay thank you. We'll be there," Emma assured the person on the other end of the phone as she hung up.

"Well, who was it?" Kitty quizzed.

"It wasn't Spiderman I can tell you that," Emma muttered to herself."That was Tony Stark, or one of his workers rather. Mr Stark has a problem that he seems to require the X-Men's help in solving. Apparently some mutant group have been breaking into Stark Industries to steal his more 'high tech projects'. He thought it best for us to handle it before it turns into some incident that makes the population fear mutants even more,"

"Tony Stark's like a totally billionaire! Are we getting paid for all this?!" Kitty queried excitedly.

"What do you think?" Bobby asked sarcastically.

"Okay, no money, but still!" Kitty exclaimed.

"How did Tony Stark get our number?" Gemma requested sadly, already knowing the answer but needing the dreaded confirmation.

"The . . . . Fantastic Four recommended he let us take care of this," Emma replied, saying something quietly for once in her life.

"We don't have to except if you don't . . . . ," Ororo began.

"No, we need to do this. Just make sure that jerk keeps his distance and it'll all be smooth sailing," Gemma insisted unconvincingly.

"Well this'll end well," Peter whispered to Lindsay.

"Hmmmm?" Lindsay was once again brought back down to earth.

Peter rolled his eyes."What's with you today?"

"Nothing. What's new with you?" Lindsay smiled.

Peter gave her a strange look, shook his head, and then turned away.

"Okay, so battle plan. One team goes undercover at the fancy party we've been invited to and the other team stays in the shadows, snooping around Stark industries to make sure there isn't another break in," Emma strategized.

"So you'll wanna be at the party then?" Jean smirked.

"Quite the contrary actually. This party with have extremely rich guests with ulterior motives. Who do I know that specialises in that particular area? The Hellfire Club. Who cannot know I'm alive? The Hellfire club," Emma informed smugly."Next time think before you speak Jean,"

You could practically see the smoke coming out of Jean's ears.

"Okay, okay. Let's talk groups," Beast intervened, trying to defuse the situation.

"Splendid idea," Emma agreed."I'll brave the black attire and join the shadow team. Logan, Kitty, Laura, Forge, Scott and Jean will join me,"

"Hey wait! I wanna be at the party!" Kitty crossed her arms angrily.

"Kitty . . . . ," Logan began angrily.

"No it's fine. Kitty will go to the party and Rogue will take her place on the shadow team," Emma changed the teams around."That leaves Bobby, Gemma, Peter, Lindsay, Hank and Ororo to accompany Kitty to the party. It's at 7 and I need time to pick out a black outfit that I can bear to be seen in. Training session cancelled. Back to bed because we'll be staying up late and then go pick out your clothes. Friendly tip for those attending the party, jeans and a t-shirt won't cut it,"

"No training session? Awesome!" Kitty exclaimed."I'm gonna go call Spiderman!"

"It's 5am," Bobby pointed out.

"Right, right. Sleep, then call Spidey," Kitty nodded.

Slowly everyone but Logan, Emma, Bobby and Gemma filed out.

"You cancelled the training session to pick out clothes?!" Logan looked extremely angry.

"Yes. Looking this good takes time," Emma shrugged, walking out of the room, Logan in toe.

"I could say something right now, but I'm too angry to make comments without swearing!" Logan growled.

"By all means swear as much as you like, just make sure the teenagers are out of earshot," Emma warned.

"Aren't they just the cutest couple?" Gemma rolled her eyes.

"Speaking of couples, Gemma, I need to tell you something," Bobby started slowly.

"Can you tell me in the kitchen? I'm starved," Gemma rubbing her stomach and leaving the room.

"Sure," Bobby sighed as he followed his best friend to the kitchen."So lately I've been thinking . . . . ,"

"You want anything to eat?" Gemma questioned as she clicked on the kitchen light and sorted through the fridge.

"No, I'm good," Bobby answered, a little annoyed."But back to what I was . . . . ,"

Bobby was cut short as the two blondes heard the sound of glass breaking in the hall.

Gemma ran out of the kitchen before Bobby could stop her, and he reluctantly followed after.

Lindsay was clearing glass off the floor muttering, "Crap, crap, crap!"

"What happened?" Gemma looked concern as she bent down to help the dark haired girl.

"Yeah, what happened," Bobby mumbled agitatedly.

"Just got lost in my own thoughts, then walked into a table," Lindsay blushed."Unfortunately the table was occupied,"

"Story of my life," Gemma grinned, using her telekinesis to clear away the glass, rather than cutting her fingers."So what's on your mind these days?"

Lindsay was about to reply honest when she glanced at Bobby, changed her mind and said instead, "Just stuff,"

Gemma raised her eyebrows but didn't press, "Alright then, I guess I'll go put this in the glass bin,"

"Okay bye!" Lindsay waved as she hurried down the hall.

"So what were you saying before?" Gemma reminded Bobby of what he'd wanted to see.

"Oh, right, that," a lump suddenly formed in Bobby's throat. Could he do this? What if he blurted everything out and Gemma freaked? Their friendship would be ruined.

Gemma smiled as him, then frown slightly.

'_Why is she frowning at me?'_ Bobby looked confused.

'_Because you said you needed to tell me something then pulled a mime act on me,'_ Gemma replied telepathically.

"Um, how long have you been listening to my thoughts?" Bobby gulped.

"Not long, just wanted to see what was making you so scared," Gemma shrugged.

"And?" Bobby waited expectantly.

"Your mind's like a steel trap ice," Gemma gave him a funny look."What are you trying so hard to hide from me?"

"Why are you always in my mind?!" Bobby snapped, changing the subject.

"Because lately you don't seem to tell me anything," Gemma replied, her tone hadn't gotten angrier but it seemed accusatory.

"Well have you ever asked?" Bobby continued.

"Should I have to?" Gemma retorted.

The glared at each other for a moment and then Bobby realised something. He'd been trying to tell Gemma he loved her and now he was fighting with her? Oh this was going_ so_ well.

"Sorry I . . . . ," Bobby began, backing up a little and tripping over stool.

Before his face hit the floor he stopped in mid air and was slowly raised to his feet.

"How . . . . ?" Bobby scratched his head thoughtlessly.

"Telekinesis?" Gemma gave him a look that said 'Uh, duh!'

"Right, of course, sure . . . . ,"

"Bobby!"

"Eh, what?"

"Do you have something to tell me or not?!"

"Yes,"

Silence.

"Well are you gonna say it out loud or do I need to spend half an hour sorting through your mind just to get the gist of it?" Gemma tapped her foot impatiently.

"Okay, here it is. Gemma I . . . . ," Bobby finally started.

"Would you two go to bed?! We have to go to a party and it'll probably be an all-nighter, so go get some shut eye!" Emma ordered.

Gemma looked at Bobby and shrugged, then went to her room.

"Hurry it up Mr. Drake," Emma narrowed her eyes.

Bobby sighed and admitted defeat._ 'Mental note. Kill Emma,'_

* * *

_**Xavier Institute, Hall. 6:30pm.**_

After hours of either sleep or lying awake contemplating feelings, (Bobby and Lindsay) the X-Men assembled in the Hall, ready to go to Tony Stark's party. Bobby, Peter and Hank were both dressed in black suits, and the 'Shadow Team' were wearing plain dark clothes. The girls attending the party however, were an entirely different story.

Storm wore a strapless, white dress that covered her white heels and complimented her long hair. Kitty wore a knee length, strapless, pink dress with a chunky white ribbon tied around it and small white pumps. Lindsay wore a dark teal coloured dress with chunkyish straps, ending just above her knees, a sparkly black belt going around the middle and sparkly black pumps. Gemma wore a red A-line spaghetti strap brush train floor-length sleeveless light satin evening dress with red high heels.

"Wow, you look, wow," Bobby gaped, making Gemma blush.

"Um, thanks. You look pretty good too," saying that made Gemma's face go redder than the dress.

"Have you noticed whenever you wear a dress it's always red?" Forge pointed out.

"It's my second favourite colour, right behind green," Gemma shrugged."Hey Lindsay, those shoes are so cute!"

"Okay, if we're all done marvelling at each other's outfits, let's get going," Emma ordered sharply.

"Feeling a little jealous?" Wolverine smirked.

"Zip it Logan," Emma warned, even though that was exactly what she was feeling.

"So are we flying, teleporting, taking the X-Van . . . . ," Bobby listed.

"The 'Shadow Team' will be taking the X-Van and Mr Stark has sent a limo for the rest of you," Emma replied through gritted teeth, making Wolverine smirk even more. _'Watch it Logan,'_

'_I didn't say a word,'_ Logan grinned.

There was a knock at the door and when Gemma opened it there was a chauffeur waiting to escort the group to their party.

"Okay, stick together and good luck. If you need to contact us just think real loud," Emma instructed, then she turned to Gemma, "If Johnny gives you trouble, don't use your powers, just discretely kick him in nads,"

Gemma smiled at her mother's comment, knowing full well Emma was being deadly serious.

Wolverine looked expectantly at Emma.

"Oh, and have fun," Emma added.

With that, Ororo took Hank's arm, Lindsay and Kitty took Peter's, and Gemma took Bobby's, all of them headed to the limo.

"Bet you ten dollars I'll get stuck in the sky roof," Bobby whispered to Gemma.

"Bet you fifteen I'll almost get hit by a truck sticking my head out the window," Gemma giggled.

* * *

_**Outside Stark Industries. 7:15pm.**_

"Hey, check it out! We're fashionably late!" Gemma pointed out as she exited the limo, the others right behind you.

"I've always wanted that!" Kitty squealed with excitement.

The seven X-Men walked into the lobby and then entered the elevator.

"So what exactly are we supposed to be doing?" Peter asked Hank.

"Mingle, talk to Mr. Stark, see if anyone knows about the break ins, see if anyone here tonight was _part_ of the break ins," Hank shrugged.

"Devour the buffet," Lindsay mused.

"Oh I'm so there," Gemma agreed as the elevator opened into a huge, expensively decorated room. The walls were painted gold and both the ceiling and floor were white marble, a huge sky light allowing moonlight to shine into the room. There were six of seven golden steps with white railings that took you down to the floor, and three huge buffet tables with white table cloths and gold silverware lines the opposite wall of the huge room.

Gemma scanned the room and spotted Susan Storm, "Crap, Sue's here,"

Bobby stepped in front of Gemma jokingly as if to hide her from view.

"Thanks Bob, but if I was gonna hide behind someone, it'd be Peter," Gemma grinned."No offense to either of you,"

Peter smiled proudly but Bobby looked a little sad.

"Come on, let's go raid the buffet," Gemma pulled Bobby towards the back of the room in an attempt to make cheer him up. It worked.

"Well, Storm and I will go let Mr. Stark know we've arrived," Hank informed as he and Ororo split off from the group.

"Peter said he'd be taking pictures for the Bugle, I'm gonna go find him," Kitty dashed off.

"Katya! Emma said stick together!" Peter chased after her, not realising that by doing so he was leaving Lindsay alone.

"Gee thanks guys," Lindsay muttered to herself. Then she caught a familiar glimpse of red hair. "Remy?"

Lindsay waded her way through the crowd to the what she thought she'd seen, but when she arrived all she saw was herself lost in a sea of people she didn't know, and she could no longer see the door she'd come in through. This was bad.

"A little lost Cher?" a familiar voice questioned from behind her.

Lindsay turned around to see Remy standing there with a smile on his face.

"What are you doing here?" she queried happily.

"Heard about the break in, figured the X-Men would be on the case, which meant you'd be here. So here I am," Remy explained.

"Are you here by yourself?" Lindsay requested.

"Is that your way of asking for proof of my divorce?" Remy smirked.

"No, no. I was just wondering if you brought your family or someone," Lindsay shook her head.

"My brother is over there with his wife, but I'm more interested in talking to you," Remy shrugged.

"Uh, we could go sit down and talk at one of the tables," Lindsay suggested.

"Lead the way Cher," Remy gestured.

Lindsay flushed and walked towards the tables.

"Before we do, would you like to dance?" Remy held out his hand.

"I don't dance," Lindsay looked embarrassed.

"Chad said that in High School Musical 2 and we all know how that ended," Gambit smirked again.

"You and your High School Musical," Lindsay giggled, not noticing she was being lead onto the dance floor.

* * *

_**Roof of Stark Industries. 7:25pm.**_

"Oh for goodness sake! I'm so tired of blending in with the freaking scenery!" Emma scowled, barely seeing her black ensemble in the darkness of the night.

"It's camouflage Em. It's supposed to do that," Logan sighed. Why did they have to this every time they went somewhere?! That woman was never happy!

"I am two happy sometimes!" Emma insisted, reading his mind.

"Emma, get outta my head," Wolverine growled.

"Logan? We're telepathically connected. We're all in your head," Rogue pointed out.

"Jean you okay back there? I mean you're holding all seven of us up," Scott asked.

"Are you implying I can't do it? I'm so sure," Jean folded her arms defiantly.

"Oh Summers you're on thin ice now," Logan smirked.

"Hmph," Emma grunted.

"Looks like Scott's not the only one skating on the slippery slope of love," Forge whispered to Rogue.

"The slippery slope of love? That's so corny," Rogue giggled.

"Must you do this now?! We're on a snooping mission. We're called the 'Shadow' Team. In order for us to do any of that we need to be quiet, stick to the shadows, and try not to get noticed! You people are so unfocused we might as well be wearing bright pink and have flashing targets on our heads!" Laura complained, sticking her claws into the side of the building so she could climb away from the others.

"Get back here young lady!" Logan shouted.

"Or at least slow down!" Jean pleaded as she flew up.

"Of course Jean, this is no problem for you whatsoever." Emma mocked.

"Shut it Emma," Jean glowered at the blonde.

"Think maybe this was what Laura was talking about?" Rogue smiled at Forge.

"Oh not at all," Forge grinned back.

* * *

_**Stark Industries Expensively Decorated Ballroom. 7:45pm.**_

After pigging out on the buffet food, Bobby and Gemma went over to the dance floor to have some fun.

"I hope they don't just play classical music and all that garbage," Gemma gagged.

"You never know, maybe someone switched the CD's from Beethoven's finest to Good Charlotte," Bobby joked.

"Because rich billionaires always have Good Charlotte CD's lying randomly around their ballrooms," Gemma teased as Noisettes ,'Never Forget You' came on."I guess this isn't so bad,"

Unknown to either of them Gemma and Bobby had apparently started slow dancing.

"This is nice," Gemma smiled at her best friend.

'_Now! Say it before something stops you,'_ Bobby told himself."Gemma, I've been trying to tell you something all day,"

"I know, what's up with all the random distractions?" Gemma giggled.

Bobby grinned at her, suddenly finding this incredibly easy, "I honestly don't know. But there is something I do know. Gemma I . . . . ,"

"Mind if I cut in?"

Gemma and Bobby turned to see Johnny Storm, hair fully grown back, separating them.

Bobby sighed, _'Oh great, more unscheduled disturbances,'_

* * *

**Hey guys! My bus broke down today so I was stuck at school for a while until it got fixed. But I had my friends there with me so it wasn't so bad. Apart from the constant hair messing up and trying to push my friend off the chair. One time he actually let go of the railing and just let himself fall onto the floor. It's safe to say everyone who saw was peeing themselves laughing! Please review! :^)**

_**That 70s show – Hey, hey what can I do? – Job Fair**_

**Jackie – Hi, I'm Jackie, and this is Steven. Steven is a no nonsense Sagittarius who's not afraid of hard work or true love.**

**Dave – I'm Dave, a shy Pisces who's looking for love and salesman to sell on commission. The more you sell, the more you can earn.**

**Jackie – That's perfect for him! Steven if you can get me to date you, you can sell anything!**

**Hyde – Uh thanks but no thanks.**

**Jackie – Wait . . . . ,**

**Hyde Are you nuts?! That guy almost offered me a job!**

**Jackie - So what's wrong?**

**Hyde – Did you hear him? The more you sell the more you earn? The more you sleep the more you earn, that's my job! Damn woman!**


	5. Dance With Me

**IMPORTANT!**

**This chapter was inspired by the song 'Dance With Me' by Drew Seeley feat. Belinda**

**Just so people don't get confused about which Peter is talking, I'll be spelling the X-Man Peter's name Piotr.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's Gemma, Brad, Vicki, Lizzie, Heather, Drake, Carlos, Sapphire, Christina, Max and Lindsay. No copyright infringement intended.**

* * *

**Wolverine and the X-Men**

'**Gemma Logan 2 : The Problems of Mutant Teenagers'**

**Dance With Me**

Key:

"Normal speech,"

'_Thinking,'_

'_**Telepathic conversations,'**_

"People from the future talking to those in the present,"

_**Stark Industries Expensively Decorated Ballroom. 7:45pm.**_

"Mind if I cut in?" Johnny quizzed.

Before Bobby could say anything, Gemma answered for him, "He might not, but_ I_ sure do,"

"I'll just go find Kitty or something," Bobby sighed as he walked off sadly.

"No Bobby wait . . . . ," Gemma began before Johnny started to dance with her."Look flames, I don't know how the heck your hair grew back so quickly, but . . . . ,"

"Reed made a special formula," Johnny informed.

"Whatever! You're still bald to me!" Gemma scowled as the song 'Dance With Me' by Drew Seeley started to play."And please tell me requesting this song and dancing with me is your big plan to win me back!"

"You know me too well," Johnny smiled, spinning her.

'_Follow me into my world, let your worries fade with every, step you take, baby whatcha' waiting for, let the tango take control, feel the music inside your soul (Oh), my hand is out, just grab a hold '_

"What's the plan then? Show me you're amazing dance moves and I fall helplessly in love with you again?" Gemma rolled her eyes as their dance turned into more of a tango.

_'Watch time fade away, my arms will keep you safe, it's just you and me, dancing in this dream'_

"Well you always did like to dance," Johnny pointed out.

'_Whatever you do, don't wake me up, the feeling's real won't let it, stop, no'_

"Yeah, but I've got I new favourite song that I just thought of now," Gemma enlightened.

"Oh really? What?" Johnny wondered aloud.

"Dancing with myself. I'm really starting to relate," Gemma smirked.

"Again with the soul crushing comments. You wound me," Johnny retorted.

"Get any closer to me and your soul won't be the only thing I wound," Gemma warned.

"Ah, feisty as ever," Johnny grinned."No wonder you always wear red,"

'_Don't be afraid, take my hand, forget the world, will you dance, dance with me, podemos bailar eternamente,'_

"Or it just because my flames are red and you wanna match?" Johnny smiled slyly.

"Not likely flame brain," Gemma narrowed her eyes.

'_Trust in me, take a chance, feel the Tango, when you dance, dance with me, podemos bailar eternamente'_

"Trust in me huh? The irony's not lost on me, how about you?" Gemma sniped as she did the splits.

"Oh when are you gonna get over that?" Johnny rolled his eyes, pulling her back up, their dance moves making a crowd gather.

'_Now I have you next to me, everything is how it should be (ooh yeah), baby, don't fight the feeling'_

"It's funny how music can narrate exactly what you're thinking," Johnny commented.

"You mean what _you're_ think. If it was what I was thinking, we'd be dancing to that Simple Plan song, you know the one, 'No Love'?" Gemma ground her teeth together.

'_We're floating on the clouds, if I could, I'd never come back down (no no), baby just keep on groovin' groovin'_

"Floating on the clouds? You're yanking my chain right? If this is what you think my heaven is, I'm buying a one way ticket to hell," Gemma remarked.

"There's that quick wit again," Johnny practically sang as he spun Gemma out into the crowd then pulled her back in.__

'As time fades away, my arms will keep you safe, it's just you and me, dancing in this dream '

"Funny, the last time you tried to keep me safe, I remember waking up in warehouse with a collar around my neck," Gemma reminded him.

"Don't fight true love Gemma," Johnny persisted.__

'Whatever you do, don't wake me up, the feeling's real, won't let it, stop, not'

"If this is true love, I'd rather live a lie," Gemma countered.

"You never stop do you?" Johnny sighed.

'_Don't be afraid, take my hand, forget the world, will you dance, dance with me, podemos bailar eternamente'_

"Stop what? Hating you? What can I say? It's one of those habits I really find hard to get rid of," Gemma shrugged.

'_Trust in me, take a chance, feel the Tango, when you dance, dance with me, podemos bailar eternamente'_

"And yet you still talk to Laura who was broke into your house to murder you," Johnny pointed out.

'_Dance with me (I'm dancing with you), for this moment in time (My dreams have come true), my darling just dance with me, if only one night'_

"Yeah, I shouldn't forgive my sister who was used and abused by goons in lab coats. That's crazy talk," Gemma rolled her eyes again.

'_Don't be afraid, take my hand, forget the world, will you dance, dance with me, podemos bailar eternamente'_

"Hey I apologized, did she?" Johnny challenged.

"Family means never having to say you're sorry," Gemma spouted out some wisdom.

"I thought that was friends," Johnny suggested.

"My friends _are_ my family. Which is why you're not forgiven. You're not my friend, and you're not my flesh and blood," Gemma's tone turned icy.

'_Trust in me, take a chance, feel the Tango, when you dance, dance with me, podemos bailar eternamente'_

People clapped as Gemma and Johnny finished tangoing, obviously thinking it was tonight's entertainment or something.

"So you've had your dance, blew your chance, and now go away before I explode your pants," Gemma rhymed, looking around the room for Bobby.

"But I . . . . ," Johnny began.

"Take a hike before I use your head as a hood ornament," Gemma warned as a defeat Johnny walked slowly away. She look around for Bobby before someone grabbed her hand and pulled her into a slow dance.

"Looking for someone?" Bobby smiled as Carrie Underwood's 'Look at me' came on.

"Not anymore," Gemma grinned. She listened to the words of the song as they danced.

'_I would bet my life like I bet my heart, that you were the one, baby, I've never been so sure of anything before, you're driving my heart crazy'_

"Funny how slow songs just magically come on," Gemma laughed slightly.

"Not really," Bobby shrugged.

"What do you mean?" Gemma tilted her head to one side in confusion.

"Mr Hothead over there's not the only one who knows how to request songs," Bobby shrugged again.

"You picked this song . . . . oh," Gemma replied as realisation dawned on her.

'_I can't hold out, I can't hold back now, like I've done before'_

"Remember that thing I've been trying to tell you all day?" Bobby looked a little nervous.

"I think I can recall a few failed attempts," Gemma giggled.

'_Darling look at me, I've fallen like a fool for you, darling can't you see, I'd do anything you want me to'_

"Well, ever since that day when I found you sitting on your balcony, I've started to realise some things about us," Bobby found the courage to begin, slowly and still nervous.

"Me too," Gemma gave him an encouraging smile. And just like that, all the butterflies went away.

'_I tell myself I'm in too deep, then I fall a little farther, every time you look at me'_

"You have? Well anyway, one of the main things I realised was, I'm not sure how to say this, but I . . . . I think I love you," Bobby announced.

He'd said it! He'd finally said it! It had taken way too much time but it was finally out there! Now there was just the waiting to see what Gemma would say next, which was total agony.

'_How do you do that, babe? Make me feel like I'm the only girl alive for you, I don't know what it is that makes me fall like this, first time in your arms I knew'_

So Gemma looked up at him with her big blues eyes, his staring back at her, and replied happily, "I love you too,"

'_The way you held me, I knew that this could be, what I've been waiting to find'_

"You do?!" Bobby asked happily, getting a nod in reply."No just as a friend though?"

'_Darling look at me, I've fallen like a fool for you, darling can't you see, I'd do anything you want me to'_

"Bobby, you'll always be my best friend. But yeah, I love you more than just a friend," Gemma answered, giving him a hug as their dance turned into more of a sway now.

'_I tell myself I'm gettin in too deep, then I fall a little farther, every time you look at me, every time you look at me'_

Unsure of what to do next, Bobby did what he thought everyone would to in this situation. He lifted Gemma's chin and kissed the only girl he'd ever loved, for the first time.

* * *

_**Stark Industries Expensively Decorated Ballroom. 7:45pm.**_

"Gambit, I told you, I'm not dancing," Lindsay insisted as the Cajun dragged her onto the dance floor.

"But I'm sure you're an amazing dancer Cher," Gambit protested.

"Not gonna happen," Lindsay shook her head, then she turned her head to see Gemma dancing with Johnny, not looking very happy about it."That jerk,"

"Excuse me Cher?" Gambit looked a little sad.

"Oh no, sorry! Not you," Lindsay apologized and pointed over at the dancing blondes."I meant Johnny,"

"Ah, seems him and Gemma are have hard times no?" Gambit complimented.

"Um Gambit, things have changed since you left. Gemma and Johnny broke up a little while ago and Kitty's dating Spiderman," Lindsay informed.

"And Bobby?" Gambit quizzed.

"Single as far as I know, but I've been seeing him looking a Gemma in a different way lately. He thinks nobody's noticed but it'd pretty hard to miss," Lindsay smirked.

"Piotr?" Gambit questioned.

"He's um . . . . single. We got a little closer after New Orleans but . . . . ," Lindsay trailed off.

"But what?" Gambit looked hopeful.

"But lately my mind's been on somebody else," Lindsay blushed.

"Well who is this guy keeping you two apart? I'll go tell him to back off," Gambit pretended to be naive.

"Sure you will," Lindsay gave him a knowing smile.

"You know Cher, we've been dancing for at least five minutes now, and hell hasn't frozen over," Remy pointed out slyly.

"So we have. Do you think we should go tell Johnny to get lost?" Lindsay weighed her options.

"I think Gemma has already done that," Gambit pointed at Gemma now dancing with Bobby.

"I knew it! I knew he liked her!" Lindsay exclaimed excitedly.

"Such a joy to see you happy for Bobby," Gambit grinned.

"Are you kidding? I can lord this over him for years!" Lindsay plotted evilly.

"What a close bond you X-Men share," Gambit teased.

"Hey," Lindsay pushed him playfully.

"If you ever feel like severing your ties, you can always join me on my trip next week," Gambit offered.

"Leave the X-Men? I couldn't I . . . . what do you mean trip?" Lindsay eyed him curiously.

"I'm leaving New Orleans to join Magneto's cause in the Himalayas. Not only would you be with me, but I do believe you have some friends over there," Gambit charmed.

"Yeah well, me and my _friends_ haven't been on very good terms lately," Lindsay sighed.

"Really? Because it was Brad who helped me finalise my divorce," Gambit announced.

"He did?" Lindsay looked shocked.

"He told me all about what happened, from when he knew I was married, you'd find out, then Mystique would mess up your life from there. Gotta say I was pretty angry when I got all the info, but he told me he wanted to try to make it up to you. So he helped me 'convince' Belladonna to get a divorce, then put in a good word for me with Magneto, and I fly to the Himalayas in a week," Gambit explained.

"Wow. He did all that just to apologize to me?" Lindsay looked pleasantly surprised."But, I still need to have a serious talk with him and Mystique if we're ever gonna be friends again,"

"Then why not come with me?" Gambit queried persuasively.

"But I can't just up and leave," Lindsay insisted.

"You gave bring Max with you. You'll have friends there. You'll have me there," Gambit continued.

"I don't know," Lindsay looked torn.

"Just promise me you'll think about it Cher," Remy kissed her hand."I have to leave now, but I'll call you later on during the week for your answer,"

"Why are you leaving?" Lindsay's expression turned slightly upset.

"If you take a look over there you'll see my brother's wife trying to support her close-to-passing-out-because-he's-so-hammered husband. I need to get him home," Gambit smirked.

"Here," Lindsay handed him a piece of paper."If you call on the house phone Logan'll never let you talk to me. Call me on my cell phone,"

"I still have your number Cher," Gambit reminded her.

"Oh, right," Lindsay faced palmed.

"Don't do that, you'll damage your pretty face," Gambit grinned, then he gave her a kiss goodbye and went to help his brother.

"That sweet talking jacka$$," Lindsay rolled her eyes, but she was smiling.

* * *

_**Stark Industries Expensively Decorated Ballroom. 8:00pm.**_

"Wow Peter, these pictures are great!" Kitty complimented as she looked through the images on Peter Parker's camera.

"Thanks Kitty. Hey, there's someone I want you to meet," Peter informed.

"Your Aunt isn't here now is she?" Kitty paled.

"No no, I meant my boss Mr Jameson. He's here tonight as well," Peter corrected.

"Oh, then by all means lead the way," Kitty looked like she was about to throw up.

"Kitty relax he'll . . . . ," Peter began.

"I know, I know. _He'll love me_," Kitty mimicked what Peter had been saying about everyone he wanted her to meet lately.

"Kitty, thank goodness I caught up to you," Piotr panted as he came to a stop.

"Are you okay Piotr?" Kitty looked concerned.

"You too off so fast, we're supposed to stick together," Piotr reminded her.

"So Lindsay is where?" Kitty reminded him, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh crap," Piotr cursed.

"Well Piotr, you can go look for her now because I just gonna be hanging with Spidey here tonight," Kitty insisted.

"Uh Kitty, don't call me Spidey when I'm out of costume," Peter whispered.

"Oh sorry, I forgot!" Kitty apologized.

"Are you sure Katya?" Piotr asked.

"Yes Peter I'm fine! I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself!" Kitty snapped."And don't call me that!

There was a stunned silence for a moment before Piotr cleared his throat and began to walk away. "Alright then _Kitty_. See you when we leave,"

When Piotr was out of earshot Peter requested, "And that was?"

"Left over anger," Kitty shrugged, regaining her happy buzz and linking his arm."Now let's go meet your boss.

* * *

_**Stark Industries Expensively Decorated Ballroom. 8:45pm.**_

"So glad to have you hear Hank. Have you met Dr. Richards?" Tony quizzed Beast as he and Storm sat with Tony at his private table in the ballroom, Reed, Ben and Alicia coming over.

"Yes, Reed it's been a while," Hank greeted the man warmly.

"Too long. But after recent events, it seemed wisest to keep our distance from the X-Men for a while," Reed explained.

"Nonsense. I'm sure Gemma and Johnny can stand being in the same room for a little while," Hank shook his head as the three sat down.

"I don't think so," Reed gave him a knowing smile.

"Where's Susan tonight?" Ororo looked around but couldn't seen Dr. Richard's wife.

"Scolding the match stick for bothering Gemma," Ben groaned, Alicia giving a slightly embarrassed grin.

"I see," Ororo nodded.

"Perhaps you were right about those two Reed," Hank laughed nervously.

"So what exactly did the mutants take?" Ororo questioned.

"Some of my various battle armours," Tony sighed regrettably."Have you found anyone at this party to be peculiar, strange or suspicious?"

"Not so far. And I don't think the younger members of our team are concerning themselves much with the mission," Hank looked a little flustered as he admitted that.

"Don't worry about it Hank. The other team will no doubt take cares of it. They're teenagers, let them enjoy it before their lives become as complicated as ours," Tony dismissed.

Now it was Storm's turn to add something, "I fear Mr Stark, that the lives of these particular teenagers, are far more complicated than ours could ever possibly be,"

* * *

_**Stark Industries, Battle Armour Safe. 9:15pm.**_

"Remind me again why _we're_ breaking into Stark Industries?" Rogue looked confused.

"We're breaking to see how easy it is to break in. And so far, it's been pretty easy," Logan shrugged.

"Minus the 100 guards, 50 robots and random lasers?!" Jean smoothed back he slightly singed hair.

"Childs play," Logan insisted.

"There's only one child I know who could find what we've been through in the past two hours _play_," Jean eyed Laura wearily.

"Please refrain from staring at her like she's a statue in a museum," Emma replied coldly.

Laura liked Emma. She was a bit prissy, but she annoyed Logan, which was funny. Also Gemma seemed to trust her, and whoever Gemma trusted, Laura trusted. Gemma didn't trust Jean, and even if she did, Laura still didn't trust the red head. She aggravated her and almost treat her like an animal. Plus she upset Gemma, and that is not something Laura wanted to happen. So she'd be keeping a close eye on Miss Jean Grey. A _very_ close eye.

"So what are we looking for ex down exactly?" Forge queried.

"Forge, I want you to hack into the security system, see if we can get a look at those tapes," Logan ordered."Scott, Jean, look for signs of entry. Me and Laura'll check out the containers of the stolen items, see if we can't a scent from them. Emma and Rogue, you're on guard.

"Yay, bonding," Rogue answered with mock enthusiasm.

"Because this is the highlight of my day too," Emma rolled her eyes.

"Hey, if I got to stare at that pretty face all through the mission it'd certainly be my favourite part," Forge announced, making Rogue blush.

"Just keep your eyes locked on that computer Casanova," Logan grunted.

"Ever the protective father figure," Emma smirked.

"Zip it Em," Logan warned, making Rogue laugh.

"Should only take me a few minutes to crack the code on this thing," Forge informed as he moved different parts of the machine around and joined up wires.

"Then get on it bionic boy," Jean ordered.

"Since when do you give the orders?" Emma barked.

"And what's with the cruel nicknames? Am I back in high school?" Forge moaned."Ooh, swirly flashbacks,"

"Hey, I used to give people those," Rogue reminisced.

"Hey, I have no idea what you guys are talking about. Try to stay focused," Laura sniggered, mimicking Rogue's overly happy 'Hey'.

"Someone got up on the wrong side of the cage this morning," Jean snickered.

Laura's eyes flashed and Logan, Emma and Rogue exchanged a glance.

"Jean shut up and get back to work!" Logan instructed angrily, trying to defuse the situation, but it was too late.

"For the last fifteen year of my life I did wake up in a cage. Either that or a white cell, where people used me as a weapon taught me how to kill and murder to fulfil their stupid missions. But today, thanks to Gemma, I did NOT wake up in a cage. Perhaps next time before saying things like that, you will stop, think and shut your mouth. Otherwise, I will see to it that you no longer have a moth to shut," Laura used that same frighteningly calm tone as Gemma did. Apparently that tone and the ability to monologue came from Logan's genetics.

"Don't talk to me like that! I used to be the phoenix," Jean bragged.

"And even then you still couldn't hold a candle to Gemma's power. Kind of sad really," Emma added.

"Guys! I cracked the code!" Forge exclaimed, but he was only met by icy glares.

"Okay, let's see that footage," Scott tried to change the subject.

"Why watch a tape when you can see the real thing?" a voice called from behind a pillar.

The X-Men spun to see Archangel standing there, along with Vertigo, Blockbuster, Multiple Man and Arclight.

"Sinister wants you back Jeanie," Vertigo gave her a dark look.

Arclight then added, "And this time he's not taking no for an answer,"

* * *

**Wow, two chapters is one day. Oh well, when inspiration strikes. Please review :^)**

_**Family Guy Blue Harvest**_

**Quagmire (CP-30) – Master, master! R2 has gonna out into the desert!**

**Chris – Man, what the phantom menace is that guy's problem?!**


	6. Ultimate

**This chapter was inspired by the song 'Ultimate' by Lindsay Lohan.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's Gemma, Brad, Vicki, Lizzie, Heather, Drake, Carlos, Sapphire, Christina, Max and Lindsay. No copyright infringement intended.**

* * *

**Wolverine and the X-Men**

'**Gemma Logan 2 : The Problems of Mutant Teenagers'**

**Ultimate**

Key:

"Normal speech,"

'_Thinking,'_

'_**Telepathic conversations,'**_

"People from the future talking to those in the present,"

_**Stark Industries, Battle Armour Safe. 9:30pm.**_

"Emma . . . . ," Logan began, staring down Sinister's goons.

"Already on it," Emma answered, telepathically connecting to Gemma, _**'Gemma? We have a problem, I need you to . . . . ,'**_

'_**Whoa, give people some warning before you do that!'**_ Gemma replied from upstairs.

'_**Gemma, this is no time for jokes. This whole thing was a trap orchestrated by Sinister. I need you get Storm and Beast down here pronto,'**_ Emma ordered.

'_**What about the rest of us?'**_ Gemma asked, slightly annoyed.

'_**Look before you get all teenage girl power on me, I don't want you down here because well . . . . Gemma I did some research. Xavier was right when he called you the most powerful telepath in the world. What he failed to observe is that you are the most powerful **_**mutant**_** in the world. Maybe even the universe,'**_ Emma informed.

'_**Me? You must be outta your mind. Which is technically true since you're in mine, but you know what I mean!'**_ Gemma insisted.

'_**No Gemma, you're it. The ultimate mutant. Which also makes you the one thing Sinister's been searching for his whole life. You come downstairs all guns blazing he'll realise Jean isn't worth the hole she crawled out of from compared to you,'**_ Emma continued.

'_**But, what about Apocalypse?'**_ Gemma pointed out.

'_**Much like Miss Grey, he couldn't hold a candle to you. In fact, he probably doesn't have enough power to **_**lift **_**a candle that had an inch of your power,'**_ Emma sighed.

'_**So how do you want me to help you without helping you?'**_ Gemma rubbed her temples, this whole thing was a lot to process.

'_**There's going to be a lot of noise coming from downstairs so I need you to create a distraction,'**_ Emma announced.

'_**That I can do,' **_Gemma grinned, ideas already formulating in her mind.

'_**Gemma, I can see what you're thinking and I'm sure Mr Stark doesn't want to clear Johnny Storm goop off his fancy ballroom walls,' **_Emma shook her head.

'_**Fine, I had other ideas. I **_**always**_** have other ideas,'**_ Gemma smiled knowingly.

'_**I know you do sweetie. I'm in your mind. So if the whole 'Mutant Vigilante' thing doesn't work out. You've got a lot of fine careers ahead of you,'**_ Emma complimented.

'_**Become a career woman? Me? I seriously doubt that's going to happen anytime soon,' **_Gemma smirked.

'_**Sweetheart, you're practically the leader of the X-Men, well the teenage X-Men anyway. You're the literal definition of a career woman,'**_ Emma pointed out._** 'Now go make a distraction with the others while I fight for my life,'**_

'_**Wanna trade?' **_Gemma offered.

'_**Not if it means Sinister gets his hands on your power,'**_ Emma replied gravely.

'_**Do you mean me as well when you say that, or just my power? Because choosing the latter won't win you any 'Mother of the Year' awards, just saying,' **_Gemma joked. _**'And also I'd just like to point out that no needle can penetrate my skin, so how's he gonna . . . . ,'**_

'_**He'll cut you up into itty bitty pieces to see what **_**used**_** to make you tick,'**_ Emma clarified.

'_**If you say so,'**_ Gemma sighed, ending their telepathic conversation.

Emma knew he daughter wasn't happy about sitting this one out, but she just hoped for both their sakes that she did _actually _sit this one out.

* * *

_**Stark Industries Expensively Decorated Ballroom. 9:30pm.**_

"Gemma? You okay? You zoned out for a bit," Bobby waved his hand in front of Gemma's face.

"No everything's fine. I'm a super-duper-better-than-Jean-the-pooper-scooper-superhero and we're under attack. _Again_. Everything's just dandy," Gemma groaned inwardly as she marched over to Tony Stark's table to get Ororo and Hank, Bobby following behind with a confused look on his face.

"Hello Miss Logan. Are you enjoying the party?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, yeah it's one fancy pad you've got here," Gemma nodded vigorously, wanting to get to the point. She then turned to Ororo and Hank and told them, "The Marauders are seeping into the lower levels of this sky scraper like rats in a sewer. Go play exterminator while we distract the big wigs,"

"You always talk with so much tact," Bobby smirked as Storm and Beast hurried to the elevator.

"Wait! Storm stop!" Gemma shouted, making everyone stare at her.

"That was one hell of a distraction," Bobby grinned.

"Storm you can't go down there. An . . . . old friend of yours will most likely be there," Gemma hinted towards Angel.

"Old friend . . . . oh," Ororo trailed off.

"Um, we'll handle it without you honey," Hank smiled as he rushed off.

"No, I . . . . I have to face him sometime," Ororo insisted, following reluctantly after him.

"You don't think that's gonna make them break up do you?" Bobby quizzed.

"Nope. And I have insider info," Gemma assured him.

"Sometimes I forget you're from the future," Bobby beamed.

"Me too," Gemma muttered sadly to herself.

"Did you just say something?" Bobby questioned as they ran to get Kitty, Peter and Lindsay.

"No. Yes. It, it doesn't matter," Gemma shook her head, trying to clear away that train of thought. Now wasn't the time for an emotional breakdown.

* * *

_**Stark Industries Expensively Decorated Ballroom. 9:35pm.**_

"Well Parker, I don't know how _you_ managed to get a girl like _her_, but she's a keeper," Jonah Jameson both complimented _and_ insulted Kitty and Peter.

"Um, thank you Mr Jameson," Kitty smiled weakly.

"Hey did you know my son is an Astronaut?" Jonah boasted, making Peter subtly roll his eyes.

"Why yes Mr Jameson, he's a true American hero," Kitty grinned.

"Hey Kitty Kat. Sorry to steal you away from Parker and this guy, but we've got an emergency," Bobby butted in.

"Bobby, _this guy_ is Jonah Jameson, Peter's _boss_," Kitty replied through gritted teeth. "Mr Jameson, this is my friend Bobby,"

"We were _supposed_ to stay together," Peter insisted as he, Lindsay and Gemma came over.

"You walk off with Kitty and then say it was _my_ fault that I was by myself?" Lindsay raised an eyebrow.

"Guys, we don't have time for this!" Gemma growled.

"And these are my other friends, Gemma, Lindsay and Peter," Kitty introduced, her cheeks turning red with anger and embarrassment.

"Hi, how are ya? Love to stay and chat, but duty calls," Gemma waved, pulling Kitty away from the two Bugle workers.

Bobby burst out laughing.

"You did _not_ just laugh at the word _duty_," Gemma rolled her eyes, making Bobby laugh even more.

"Why are you ruining me meeting Peter's boss for the first time?!" Kitty demanded as she struggled free.

"The Marauders decided to crash this incredibly expensive party," Gemma enlightened.

"Fair enough," Kitty shrugged.

"We have to create a distraction to, for lack of a better word, distract, from the noise downstairs," Gemma instructed. "Any ideas? I don't care if it's hitting each other in the face with pies as long as it's entertaining and noisy,"

"We could tell jokes?" Bobby suggested.

"Or make a speech?" Kitty added.

"Or sing?" Lindsay chimed in.

"Or act?" Peter joined in.

"All excellently random ideas. We'll do all four. All I need is a piece of paper, a pen, and five minutes," Gemma announced.

* * *

_**Stark Industries, Battle Armour Safe. 9:35pm.**_

"Jean! Contain Arclight before he rocks this place to the ground! Logan! Laura! Retrain from killing anyone! Rogue! If you don't hurry up and drain Multiple Man he's just going to keep copying himself! Forge! Try to activate some defences! Maybe these suits can be remote controlled! Scott! Hit Vertigo before she can knock you over! And where the heck are Storm and Beast?!" Emma shouted orders around the room.

"Here! Sorry for the delay!" Beast called from the doorway.

"Ororo!" Archangel shouted, making the weather witch turn to him. "This does not concern you!"

"If you hurt Jean it does Warren!" Ororo replied. "This isn't you! You don't have to fight us!"

"If you stop me from taking Jean, then I'm afraid I must!" Warren insisted. "And Beast! You stole my girl! I _definitely_ have reason to fight you!"

"Hank get out of the way before . . . . !" Emma began before Blockbuster punched her in the back, knocking her to the ground.

"EMMA!" Wolverine roared over the crowd just as Arclight knocked him over.

Laura jumped from where she was protecting Forge, to Emma's side.

"You are quite tall and large," Laura commented, referring to Blockbuster. She unsheathed her claws. "If you hurt her again, I'll change that,"

Blockbuster looked surprised at her remark, and then laughed. "Is that so?"

"Yes," Laura answered, jumping in the air, kicking Blockbuster in the gut, and watching him fall like a house of cards. "It is,"

"Good work kid! Now I'll make sure he _stays_ down," Logan vowed as he ran over to Laura.

"I'm not a kid," Laura snarled.

"You always will be in my eyes," Logan assured her, sticking one boot on top of Blockbuster's chest as he tried to get up, consequently pushed him back down.

"Uhnnnn . . . . what happened? I feel like I just got hit by a bulldozer," Emma complained weakly.

"Well you pretty much did," Rogue came over to help Emma up.

"What about Multiple Man?" Emma requested.

"Multiple Man is just _man_ now," Rogue informed.

"I wonder how Gemma's disguising the fight from the others," Emma mused.

* * *

_**Stark Industries Expensively Decorated Ballroom. 9:40pm.**_

"Gemma, I can hear stuff going on downstairs, are you nearly done with whatever you're doing?" Kitty quizzed.

"Yep. Finished. Back in a sec," Gemma promised as she walked over to Tony Stark's booth.

"Mr Stark? Would you mind announcing this?" Gemma handed him a piece of paper.

"Uh, sure," Tony nodded as he walked up to a medium sized stage with a microphone in the center. "Ladies and gentlemen, for entertainment tonight, we have a special performance from the students of 'The Charles Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters',"

"Did he just say we were doing a performance?" Bobby asked.

"Uh huh," Gemma replied as she pulled her friends to the side and did a trick she'd seen Jean do before. She transformed their fancy outfits into casual clothes. "Now let's go give these people what they didn't know they came for!"

Gemma walked proudly onto the stage, the others embarrassedly following after her.

"Good evening everybody!" Gemma greeted the audience.

"Good evening? Are you kidding me?!" Lindsay whispered teasingly.

"Well if I'd said _good night_ they would've thought it was time to go home," Gemma pointed out.

"So what exactly are we going to do besides stand here like lemons?" Bobby requested, getting a bit of stage fright. "Have I mentioned I don't like public speaking?!"

"Hush up and just read the script," Gemma ordered. "And now, the comedy styling's of Piotr Rasputin!"

"What?! No I . . . . !" Peter began as Gemma pushed him into the microphone. "Um, hello. My name is Peter, and today I shall be telling you all some jokes. So, uh, how about this weather we're having?"

Kitty face palmed as the crowd stayed quiet. She walked over and took the mic, saying," Hi there. I'm Kitty. So, two blondes walk into a bar, you'd think one of them would've seen it,"

The crowd roared with laughter and Bobby and Gemma pretended to walk into a bar, being the blondes of the group, which made the people laugh even harder.

"Kitty you're great! Keep going!" Lindsay encouraged.

Kitty nodded and continued, "Okay, so a man walks into a bar, the drinking kind this time, and . . . . ,"

* * *

_**Stark Industries, Battle Armour Safe. 9:45pm.**_

Storm flew into the air and after a sad sigh, hit Warren with a lightning bolt before he could punch Beast for the fourth time.

"Eaaaarggggggggghhhhh!" Warren screamed, making Ororo wince.

She flew over and caught him before he could hit the ground, then gently placed him on the floor.

"Storm, are you sure you want to be here?" Emma shouted from where she was psychically battling Vertigo.

"No, but I know some people who do!" Storm announced as she thought really loudly, _**'Gemma?!'**_

'_**What? Are not being loud enough?'**_ Gemma sounded disappointed.

'_**No, you're doing fine, but there's some people I need you to go get,'**_ Storm enlightened.

'_**Okay, just read your mind. Be down there soon,'**_ Gemma announced.

* * *

_**Stark Industries Expensively Decorated Ballroom. 9:46pm.**_

"Guys, back in a sec! I gotta go make a cavalry run!" Gemma called as she snuck off the stage and teleported to the Himalayas.

She walked invisibly around the metal hallways until she found the people she was looking for.

"Okay, we _seriously_ need more breaks! Building that machine is getting way too annoying," Drake complained to his friends.

He was sitting on a couch in the wreck room, with his arm around Heather who was sitting next to him. Sapphire and Carlos were sitting in the same way on the couch to the right of them, while Vicki sat in an arm chair to the left and Lizzie was getting a coke from the vending machine in the corner of the medium sized room.

"Hey guys! How goes life in the mountains?" Gemma queried from the doorway.

"Gemma?! What are you doing here?" Lizzie squealed as she put her coke on the table and gave Gemma a hug.

"I need your help," Gemma cut to the chase.

"Just me or all of us?" Lizzie quizzed.

"All of you," Gemma replied.

"Anything to get us out of building that stupid machine!" Drake stood up and pulled Heather up with him.

"So what do you need us for?" Heather enquired as Gemma teleported them to the Battle Armour Safe.

"Fire fight. Gotta go!" Gemma waved as she teleported back to the ballroom, leaving them in the thick of it.

"You just _had_ to accept," Carlos rolled his eyes at Drake as he transformed, "I'd rather still have a wrench in my hand than have that hand covered in fur,"

"Whoa! Watch out for the giant guy!" Lizzie warned as she turned the ground underneath Blockbuster's feet to sand, making him fall down, down and what else? Down.

"Lizzie? What are you guys doing here?" Rogue shouted as she dodged a punch from Vertigo.

"What a coincidence! We were just wondering the same thing!" Carlos yelled back.

"You're here because I told Gemma we needed your help. Particularly you _Heather_," Storm revealed.

"Me? Why . . . . ?" Heather began before she saw Archangel flying angrily towards Beast. "Right. _Of course_! When fighting a guy with wings, always call on the teacher bird freak!"

Heather spread her wings out and flew to intercept Warren. "Hey blue boy?! Pick on someone with your own mutation!"

"Gotta love her," Drake mused as he tackled Arclight.

"Since she's my sister, trust me you don't," Carlos smirked, running off to help Drake.

"Okay people, teamwork! We've trained for stuff like this!" Vicki shouted.

"Ooh, don't remind me!" Carlos shivered.

The team operated almost like a machine, each of them working in sync as if they'd already had this battle. Sapphire would use her laser eyes to shoot Archangel out of the sky, Heather would punch him in the face on the way down, and then Lizzie would spin him into a wall. Vicki turned the battle armour into ghostlike robots which fought the marauders alongside the X-Men and Carlos and Drake worked together to take down Arclight.

"Okay, I'm just going to say this once. WHY CAN'T WE FIGHT LIKE THAT?!" Emma scowled.

"Because we're experienced enough to know that even the most thought out plans can still fail?" Hank offered.

"Not good enough! From now on its 4am training sessions!" Emma decided.

"Have mercy!" Rogue screamed dramatically.

"Not unless I see some improvement!" Emma insisted.

"Forge! Quick! Hold Madrox while I drain him again or we'll have to get up at 4!" Rogue ordered desperately.

Forge quickly did as he was told and then he and Rogue both smiled at Emma and nodded their heads hopefully.

"Oh fine!" Emma threw her hands up in defeat.

"Push over," Jean smirked.

"Call me that again and I will _literally_ push you over!" Emma snapped.

* * *

_**Stark Industries Expensively Decorated Ballroom. 9:55pm.**_

"Okay I'm back," Gemma announced, hurrying back on stage.

"Good because Kitty's running out of jokes," Bobby whispered.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Kitty Pryde!" Gemma shouted into the microphone as Kitty gave a bow and the crowd clapped. "Next we'll have the singing part of our act. I present to you, Peter and Lindsay!"

"Wait what . . . .?" Lindsay began as Gemma pushed her and Peter towards the microphone.

"Just sing the words on the sheet. You guys were good at that bar back in New Orleans!" Gemma encouraged, shoving a piece of paper into Lindsay's hands.

Lindsay smiled shyly at Peter. She wasn't sure how she felt about him after the whole Gambit thing. But this was just singing, it'd be fine wouldn't it? She quickly read the words. Okay, so maybe it wouldn't be fine.

"Gemma, I can't sing this," Lindsay whispered defiantly.

"Why not? It's all about how you and Peter found each other after you both had break ups. It's like your love story," Gemma insisted.

"Okay, fine. I can sing this. I just don't_ want_ to and am not _going_ to," Lindsay answered, handing Gemma back the paper.

"Well what are we gonna do for the singing portion?" Gemma pointed out.

_5 minutes later._

"Sorry for the wait folks. There's been a change of plans. Miss Gemma Logan be singing you a song," Lindsay announced, handing Gemma the microphone.

Gemma opened her mouth and started singing a slightly altered version of Busted's 'I've been to the year 3000'.

"I said, I've lived in the year two thousand and thirty,

Not much had changed except mutants have been slaughtered,

And your awesome, funny, amazing, granddaughter, is my best friend!

I took a trip from the year two thousand and thirty,

Where we're up to Family Guy season 29,

Everybody lives in broken houses, broken houses, broken houses,

I took a trip from the year two thousand and thirty,

Where we're fighting the biggest war of all time,

Against Apocalypse, he's a real big louse yes, real big louse yes, real big louse yes," Gemma sang.

The crowd cheered, thinking she was just kidding.

"Thank you Stark Industries!" Gemma bowed. "And now, a scene from uh . . . . Romeo and Juliet!"

_2 minutes later._

"Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?  
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;  
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,  
And I'll no longer be a Capulet," Lindsay recited from one side of the stage.

"Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?" Bobby called from the other side.

Considering their 'friendship' it was extremely hard for both of them to keep a straight face which was very evident as each of them kept quivering grins pasted on their faces throughout the entire performance.

"Tis but thy name that is my enemy.  
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.  
What's Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,  
Nor arm, nor face. O, be some other name  
Belonging to a man," Lindsay continued, pretending she didn't know Bobby was there.

But that last line was it. Lindsay's cheeks started to go red and her smile was quivering a lot more than it had been for the past 10 ten minutes. Bobby was too busy trying to keep himself from laughing that he couldn't open his mouth to say his line.

"And thus concludes our scene!" Gemma interrupted quickly as Lindsay and Bobby took shaking bows and walked behind the others where they burst out laughing. Thankfully they weren't heard as the crowd gave a round of applause.

"Aw man! That was torture!" Bobby giggled, Lindsay nodding as he held her now aching stomach because she'd been laughing so hard.

"Okay, now what are we gonna do for the speech part?" Kitty quizzed as they made a group huddle.

"Gemma," Lindsay, Bobby and Peter chorused at the same time.

"Why thank you," Gemma pretended to blush. "But I've got a better idea,"

* * *

_**Stark Industries, Battle Armour Safe. 10:10pm.**_

After a long, hard battle and numerous early training session threats, the X-Men finally tied up the marauders and used one of Forge's teleporter gadgets to send them to the Genoshian prison.

"Should we go after Sinister? Because he _is_ still out there," Rogue pointed out.

"He makes a move, we'll get him," Storm promised.

"Riiiight," Emma and Jean replied unconvincingly.

"Emma, Gemma's gonna be fine. The girl can take care of herself and even if she can't, we'll protect her," Logan assured his girlfriend.

"Same here Jeannie," Scott smiled as he put his arm around Jean.

"Um, so how are _we_ getting home?" Heather asked, the other members of her team nodding behind her.

"I have a second teleporter," Forge handed it to the blonde.

"Or you could stay?" Rogue offered.

Suddenly a portal appeared in the armoury and Magneto, along with Blink and Juggernaut, stepped furiously towards the X-Men.

"I demand you release these teenagers at once!" Magneto shouted, Blink getting ready teleport the team the ends of the earth, Juggernaut bawling his fists.

"Whoa, whoa, Eric it's fine. They needed our help so we came," Heather stepped in front of them and held her hands up.

"And you didn't think to tell anyone?" Magneto raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, I'm not that smart. I've said it before and I'll gladly say it again if it's gets me out of trouble," Heather insisted.

"So no-one's been captured?" Magneto raised an eyebrow at his six charges, who shook their heads. "Then I apologize to you X-Men. It rarely happens, so cherish it,"

"Magneto, were you actually . . . . _worried_?!" Logan looked extremely surprised.

"No. Not at all. Now as for the six of you, get in the portal!" Magneto ordered, the six teenagers hurryingly obeying him and waving goodbye to their friends.

"Sorry Eric," Vicki smiled weakly.

"It's fine. Just go. But next time tell someone when you're going to take off suddenly!" Magneto sighed, then he turned to the X-Men. "And you lot! Pick up a phone!"

He turned quickly, his cape flowing in the wind it created as he walked into the portal, Juggernaut eying each X-Man in turn and then following his leader, Blink in toe.

"He _actually cared_!" Rogue exclaimed.

"Maybe there's hope for him after all," Ororo mused.

"You can probably tell the others they can stop their distraction now," Logan told Emma.

"Actually, I think we should go see their big finale," Emma gave him a wide and knowing smile.

* * *

_**Stark Industries Expensively Decorated Ballroom. 10:11pm.**_

"Ladies and gentlemen! Our final act of the night!" Gemma announced. "The Magical and Amazing Peter Rasputin!"

The crowd clapped and cheered as Peter stepped up the microphone.

"Along with my astonishing assistants, Brilliant Bobby, Generous Gemma, the Lovely Lindsay and Kickass Kitty," Peter introduced his friends and they each gave a bow.

"Kickass Kitty?" Kitty whispered as she raised an eyebrow.

"You trying coming up with names for everyone on the spot," Peter whispered back irratatedly, then he went back to addressing the audience. "And for my first trick, Kitty if you would please step in the box,"

Kitty climbed into a box where her head and feet stuck out. Peter closed the lit and produced several swords.

"Peter what are you . . . . ," Bobby began but Kitty winked at him and realisation dawned.

Peter began stabbing the swords into the box, all the while Kitty was yawning, pretending she was bored. The Peter took out a giant metal square with a wooden handle. The crowd gasped as it went through the box, splitting it in two.

"Peter, whatever you do, don't pull the two boxes apart," Kitty warned through gritted teeth.

He nodded and then pulled the metal square along with the swords out of the box, put them aside and then helped the completely unharmed Kitty out of the box. The crowd clapped at cheered.

"Thank you, thank you," Peter smiled as Kitty did a curtsey and then went to stand with the others.

"For my next trick, I will require Linday's help," Peter motioned for her to come over.

She sat down on a couch like in a psychiatrist's office, Peter sitting across from her in an armchair.

"Tell me Lindsay, what ails you?" Peter questioned.

"I've been having bad dreams and I can't get the monsters out of my head," Lindsay pretended to complain.

"Let's see what we can do about that," Peter grinned as he shouted, "Monsters be gone!"

Suddenly Blue and Britney appeared on the stage, roaring like mad, making the audience step back.

"I vanquish you monsters!" Peter yelled, and the two monsters disappeared, the crowd sighing in relief.

Lindsay bowed and stood with the others.

Next it was Bobby's turn to play patient.

"Peter I just can't get my fever to go down," Bobby groaned.

"Perhaps I can help," Peter offered, waving his hand at Bobby who then turned into ice mode.

The crowd broke out into laughter.

"Well that won't do," Peter waved his hands again and Bobby turned back to his normal self.

"By George, I'm cured!" Bobby exclaimed both sarcastically and dramatically. "Oh thank you Mr Rasputin!"

"And now for my final trick," Peter gestured to Gemma. "I will make Gemma disappear, and then reappear in that box over there!"

Gemma stepped forward and Peter threw a cloak over her. The cloak dropped to the floor in a heap and Peter lifted it up from the floor to reveal that Gemma was gone. He waved his hand towards the box Kitty had been in previously. Kitty opened the lid and Gemma sat up and waved to the crowd.

"That you guests of this party! You've been a wonderful audience!" Peter complimented the crowd as the others stood next to him and they all took a bow.

"Goodnight Stark Industries!" Gemma screamed. "Man I've always wanted to do that!"

The five teens linked arms and Peter threw the cloak over them all, and just like before, it crumpled to a heap on the floor, leaving audience's mouths gaping.

* * *

**Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :^)**

**Emperor's New School – Kuzco's Little Secret**

**Malina – Guaka! Are you spying on us?!**

**Guaka – No, I was . . . . spying on this garbage can!**


	7. Carnival Ride : Last Name

**Hey people! Sorry if took so long but inspiration was of the lacking variety. Anyway, here we go!**

**The next three chapters were inspired by songs from Carrie Underwood's album 'Carnival Ride'.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's Gemma, Brad, Vicki, Lizzie, Heather, Drake, Carlos, Sapphire, Christina, Max and Lindsay. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Wolverine and the X-Men**

'**Gemma Logan 2 : The Problems of Mutant Teenagers'**

**Carnival Ride : Last Name**

Key:

"Normal speech,"

'_Thinking,'_

'_**Telepathic conversations,'**_

"People from the future talking to those in the present,"

_**Xavier Institute, Living Room, 8:00pm.**_

Bobby and Gemma sat on the couch watching 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall'. Bobby had his arm around Gemma and her head was resting on his shoulder.

"I can't believe you've never seen this before! It's like my favourite film!" Gemma exclaimed.

"_I_ can't believe you've never seen _Star Wars_ before!" Bobby retorted. "Somehow you've managed to watch endless repeats of Futurama, the Simpsons, and Family Guy, but you've never seen Star Wars? It's the greatest six films of my life!"

"Now there's the problem, _six_ films," Gemma enlightened. "I don't watch things with sequels,"

"You're kidding right?" Bobby raised an eyebrow.

"In sequels the characters always end up having annoying kids who are the same as their now stuffy parents were when they were teenagers," Gemma insisted.

"Annoying kids? Psh! Never!" Jean called from the doorway.

"Don't you have better things to do than eavesdrop on eighteen year olds?" Gemma sighed.

"I'm just waiting for Scott to finish finding his sunglasses and then we're going to a movie," Jean rolled her eyes. "I kept offering to do a telepathic scan of the mansion, but he wants to find them himself,"

"I can respect that," Bobby nodded in understanding.

"Not taking help from _you,_ Jean? Psh! Never!" Gemma smirked.

"Cute. Gimme a call when you get better taste in comebacks," Jean shot back as she walked away and called over her shoulder, "And in films!"

"She did NOT just diss Forgetting Sarah Marshall!" Gemma scowled.

Bobby picked up the DVD box as Gemma eyed him curiously, "Don't take it personally, if Gemma called Jean pretty she'd diss _herself_,"

Gemma smiled realising that was more for her benefit than the DVD, even though it was probably crushed at the comments too.

"Gemma. Gemma. Gemma," a voice called from the room where Charles Xavier was kept.

"Did you hear that?" Gemma asked Bobby cautiously.

"Please don't tell me this place is haunted. Nobody said anything about living in the haunted mansion!" Bobby shuddered.

"It kind of sounds familiar," Gemma mused thoughtfully.

"Of course it does! The Haunted Mansion was an awesome movie!" Bobby insisted.

"No nimrod, I mean _the voice_ sounds familiar," Gemma giggled.

"Oh my gosh! What if the Professor isn't in a coma anymore? What if he's dead and has come back to haunt us for not checking on him lately!" Bobby screamed as he leapt from the couch and ran out the door. "I'll go warn the others!"

"Is he for real?" the same voice groaned.

"Okay that definitely sounds familiar," Gemma told herself as she slowly made her way down to the room where the Professor was. "And it does _not_ sound like the ghost of Charles Xavier,"

As she was walking along she bumped into Logan and Emma who were rolling their eyes at Bobby.

"I swear to God that he's back from the dead!" Bobby tried to explain.

"I wasn't under the impression he'd died in the first place!" Emma snapped.

"Hey, can you hear . . . . ?" Gemma began.

"Don't start," Logan warned.

"Not Charles Xavier. But I'm gonna take that and assume you _can _hear something," Gemma nodded as she walked past them.

"Gemma don't! He'll eat your brain!" Bobby screamed.

"So now he's a zombie?" Gemma grinned as the couple walked down the hallway to the Professor's room.

Logan and Emma shook their heads at the two teens and continued to walk towards the living room, since no one was using it now.

_**Xavier Institute, Charles Xavier's Room, 8:15pm.**_

"Bobby would you _royally put a cork in it_?" Gemma demanded as they made their way down the hall.

"Well _excuse me_ for being worried about my girlfriend's safety!" Bobby huffed.

"Safety from what? Charles Zombie Xavier?" Gemma rolled her eyes.

"It could happen," Bobby protested.

"Yeah, in crazyville," Gemma retorted.

"What's that? You're home town?" Bobby sniped.

"No, my hometown is here. Westchester. Any of this ringing a bell?" Gemma smirked.

"Oh shut up," Bobby folded his arms.

"Wow, you guys are like the perfect couple. Seriously, it's eerie," the same voice from before snickered.

Gemma grinned as she fully recognised the voice. "Hey Abbie, how you been?"

"Not too good, otherwise I wouldn't be calling," Abbie replied, though despite herself she smiled at the friend she hadn't seen in so long.

"And at such a late hour too," Gemma chided happily.

"Okay, time to get serious Gemma. You gotta come home. Like now," Abbie cut to the chase.

"Right, that's gonna happen how? I mean sure I'd love to come back and see you guys, but that's not really in the realm of possibility anymore," Gemma pointed out.

"It is now. I've been doing some research, and I know how to get you back here," Abbie dropped the bomb.

"You, you do? That . . . . that's great," Gemma stammered nervously. She hadn't thought that since Apocalypse was current locked up that she'd get to go back home. Did she even want to anymore? Yes, yes of course she did. So . . . . why the hesitation?

"And it's really important you come home soon," Abbie continued. "Things are . . . . getting worse,"

"I thought the war was over in magic future land . . . . ?" Bobby began.

"Okay, ignoring that. Who's getting worse?" Gemma, knowing instantly what her friend meant, requested. "Abbie, where's Taylor?"

"In the infirmary. A . . . . . new threat beat him up pretty badly," Abbie turned her back on the others. "I, I don't know how much time he has left,"

"No! No Taylor can't die! He's only eighteen! We're only eighteen! Eighteen year olds shouldn't have to deal with dying, or having their friends die! Isn't there a healer there or something? Abbie please tell me there's a healer!" Gemma cried.

"He died a few weeks ago. We've been surviving on whatever medication we can find in the mansion. The Professor's the only older X-Man left, the others either can't bring themselves to face . . . . the new threat. Or they've gone off to face . . . . it," Abbie sighed. "Gemma you gotta come home, if only to say bye before it's too late,"

"I, I'll be there soon," Gemma agreed. "As soon as you tell me how,"

"Wait, you're just going to up and leave us to go back to the future?" Bobby folded his arms. "And what's this _new threat_ she keeps mentioning?"

"I, I can't tell you. It could change the future," Abbie stuttered.

"Well she's a lot less free with the information than you are," Bobby grunted.

"Gee thanks. And no I'm not just going to leave you," Gemma promised.

"But I thought you said you were coming back?" Abbie pointed out.

"I am," Gemma replied.

"But you just said . . . . ," Bobby began.

"I know what I said okay?" Gemma snapped, then instantly felt guilty. "I'm sorry, I . . . . this is a lot to process,"

Gemma sat down on one of the metal benches in the room and sighed. "How do I get back?"

"Gemma you can't . . . . ," Bobby started.

"Bobby, shush. Abbie, talk," Gemma ordered, holding up her hand to Bobby in the international signal for 'Shut up'.

"You just need to change a few things in cerebro, so it amplifies your teleportation power instead of your telepathy," Abbie enlightened.

"I figured that was how I got here," Gemma nodded.

"You mean you knew? And you haven't come back yet?" Abbie demanded.

"Certain things have happened since I first came here," Gemma shot a quick glance in Bobby's direction. "It's been a whole year. Things are different now. But I'll be there as soon as I can,"

"So you were just never gonna come back if I hadn't called?" Abbie narrowed her eyes.

"I said I was coming now didn't I?" Gemma growled, getting up to show she was standing her ground, and that she was pretty mad too. "So stop getting your holographic face all up in mine!"

Bobby and Abbie's mouths dropped.

"Now if you'll _excuse me_, I'm gonna go find Forge," Gemma barked as she stormed out of the room.

"Uh, bye," Bobby waved awkwardly at Abbie as he left to follow Gemma. Not a good idea right now, but if he didn't calm her down, Wolverine would slice him up like an orange. No joke.

_**Xavier Institute, Hallway, 8:20pm.**_

The irises of Gemma's eyes were blazing red, a colour she and the others at the institute had become accustomed to during the past few weeks. All in all, Gemma's eyes were hardly ever their natural ocean blue anymore. Where it was anger or happiness or sadness, her eyes seemed to show that in their own colour coded way. It made hiding her emotions a lot harder.

Like right now for example. As she strode down the hallway to Forge's room, the others were moving well out of her way, even though she hadn't actually done or said anything to make them want to. She guessed after a year these people had grasped how to act around her when she was angry. It wasn't hard to pick up, the simple thing to do was to back off and not provoke her, which the other X-Men were accomplishing extremely well.

Gemma banged on Forge's door and tapped her foot as she impatiently waited for him to open it.

"Uh, hey Gemma. What's up?" Forge questioned nervously, noticing her current eye colour.

"I need your help on a little project of mine," Gemma replied.

"Um, okay. Does Logan need us to upgrade the danger room or something?" Forge scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"No, this has nothing to do with my dad. And I'd like to keep it that way," Gemma informed, then added telepathically, _**'Hint, hint,'**_

"Oh, okay then. So what are we working on?" Forge shrugged and followed Gemma as she headed down the hallway.

"Cerebro. Forge, you need to understand that only me, you and possibly Bobby know about this. And it needs to stay that way, no matter what happens. Okay?" Gemma cut to the chase.

"Uh huh," Forge nodded, making Gemma glad she'd picked the one person who would just drop the subject, to help her.

"Great. Project is getting me back to the future," Gemma announced.

Forge stopped dead in his tracks.

"Forge? Forge are you okay?" Gemma waved her hand in front of his face.

"Gemma you're not seriously going to just take off and not tell anybody are you?" Forge folded his arms.

"I told you," Gemma offered, but when she saw Forge's stern look she sighed and continued, "But know, I'm not gonna take off. Well, I am, but I'm coming back,"

"Why are you going back in the first place?" Forge queried.

Gemma glanced around her. "Not here,"

Gemma grabbed one of Forge's folded arms and dragged him the rest of the way to cerebro.

"Okay, how about now?" Forge requested as he sat down on the floor with Gemma, next to the control panel.

"One of my friends is dying. I wanna say goodbye. And then I'm coming straight back. Enough info for ya?" Gemma raised an eyebrow as she stared pulling tools out of the box in the corner.

"Yeah. I understand. You gotta be with your buddy in his time of need," Forge agreed.

"Thanks Forge. That was kind of corny, but thanks," Gemma smiled at him.

"Forge put down those pliers and step away from my crazy girlfriend," Bobby ordered as he appeared in the doorway. "There's _no way_ I'm letting you send her back to the future!"

"Would you keep your voice down?" Gemma growled as she pulled Bobby into the room and quickly shut the door.

"Not until you promise me you won't go back there," Bobby insisted.

"I'm not promising anything like that!" Gemma's eyes turned to a slightly more fiery red. "I'm going there, for like a few days or something, and then I'm coming back. And _you're_ gonna keep your lips zipped until I get back! Got it?"

Forge gulped but Bobby managed to keep a somewhat defiant expression on his face.

"Fine. But I wanna go with you," Bobby sighed.

"No, that could disrupt the time stream," Gemma protested.

"Either we both go, or you don't go at all," Bobby replied.

"You really think you can st-," Gemma began, stopping short as she realised something. He _couldn't_ stop her. Could _anybody_? If she went on a power trip, could anyone take her down? Even make a decent _attempt_? She shook the thoughts out of her head and composed herself as the guys stared at her. "Fine, you can come. You can meet my friends,"

"And I suppose after that we'll go for dinner with my parents?" Bobby smirked, but Gemma could tell he was excited and surprised that she'd actually agreed to let him come.

'_Bobby. Bobby could stop me,'_ Gemma smiled to herself.

He wasn't extremely powerful, but he could talk to her. Get her to listen to him if she went nuts. Not that that was going to happen. Never. Not even once in a blue moon.

"Okay let's get this freak show on the road," Gemma grinned as she and Bobby bent down next to Forge and they started to get to work.

_**Xavier Institute Hallway, 9:50pm.**_

Rogue walked down the hallway to Forge's room. They were going to the movies tonight so instead of wearing her uniform like usual, she was wearing her civvies and, shock horror, she'd worn her hair down for once.

'_There's a first time for everything,'_ Rogue thought to herself as she opened the door to Forge's room. "Hey Forge you ready to," –Rogue sighed at the empty room – "Go out?"

She ran her the fingers of her left hand through her hair and came back out of the room. She spotted Kitty rushing frantically down the hall, arms full of clothes.

"Hey Kitty have you . . . . ?" Rogue began.

"Can't talk. Meeting Peter's friends and Aunt tomorrow. Gotta find the perfect outfit," Kitty squealed excitedly as she dashed into her room.

" . . . . seen Forge," Rogue finished with another sigh as she continued down the hallway.

Rogue started to check all the rooms she thought Forge might be in. In the kitchen? Nope. Living room? Nada. Danger room? Nuh uh. Cerebro? Bingo.

"Forge! I've been looking all over for you! What are you . . . . ," Rogue trailed off as she saw the tools in her boyfriend's hand, along with the two blondes sitting next to him. "Hey guys,"

"Hi Rogue," Gemma waved without turning around, from where she stood pressing buttons on the control panel.

"How's it going?" Bobby replied conversationally from where he sat with his feet up on said control panel, sifting through a bunch of manuals.

"Fine," Rogue replied, a pinch of ice worming its way into her voice. "Forge, the movie starts at 10, so we better get going,"

Rogue knew what his answer would be, this wasn't the first time something like this had happened, but she waited somewhat patiently all the same.

"Movies. Right. Sorry Rogue, but I can't tonight. We're working on this really important project," Forge informed from where he lay under the control panel, wrench in hand, tweaking things inside it.

"Forge," Rogue began through gritted teeth. "We haven't been out in weeks. And you promised me that tonight we'd . . . . ,"

"I know I did, but something . . . . ," Forge began.

"Came up? Big surprise there," Rogue accidentally let sarcasm seep into her tone.

"I promise I'll make it up to you," Forge insisted.

"Hmm, just like you promised we'd go out tonight?" Rogue put a finger to her chin.

Forge gulped for the second time today. "Rogue I swear I'll . . . . ,"

"Don't swear. Logan doesn't like us to curse," Rogue warned in a mocking tone. She decided to give him a life line. "Alright whatever, no going out tonight. But before I go watch a movie in the den, do you notice anything different about me?"

"Uh oh," Bobby whispered to Gemma, who nodded slowly and came to stand next to her boyfriend, as if feeling the need that she should be there to create a telekinetic shield in case people started to throw things.

"Um, you . . . . you're not wearing your uniform?" Forge guessed, gulping again as Rogue's eyes narrowed and Bobby and Gemma shook their heads sympathetically.

"Not quite. Any more guesses?" Rogue smiled, once again gritting her teeth.

"You're slightly angrier than usual?" Forge asked sheepishly.

If Rogue had the same eye colour changing powers that Gemma had, hers would've been redder than the sun round about now.

"My hair! My freaking hair!" Rogue seethed, spinning on her heels as she stomped out the room.

Forge tried to go after her but Bobby grabbed his arm. "I wouldn't dude,"

Gemma nodded in agreement.

Forge sighed and walked back to the bench, starting to work again.

This wasn't going to end well.

_**Xavier Institute, Exterior. 10:10pm.**_

Rogue stomped down the driveway to the big iron gates at the end and slammed the button to open them.

She was mad. She was hurt. And now she'd missed the start of the movie. There was no point in going now.

She remembered what Gemma, Peter and Lindsay had done when Lindsay and Gambit had broke up back in New Orleans. They'd went to a bar. She decided to do the same, minus the karaoke.

Fair enough she and Forge weren't _technically_ broken up, but that didn't mean they weren't headed that way. Which meant she could drown her sorrows with good reason. Now she just had to figured out how to get the barman to give an eighteen year old girl a beer. Why hadn't she been born in England? You could drink at eighteen over there!

She strode into the building and took a seat at the bar.

"What'll it be?" the barman asked. He was missing at least three teeth, and his hands looked exceptionally grimy. But what the hell, maybe he'd just give her a beer if she asked for one.

"Pint of beer please," she rested her cheek on her fist.

"Got any I.D?" the man requested.

Crap.

"Must've left it in my other jeans," Rogue shrugged.

"No I.D, no beer," the man informed.

"Give her whatever she wants," came a somewhat familiar voice from beside her as a green aura appeared around the barman's head.

"One beer coming up," barman replied with a smile that made Rogue grimace, though since he was under some kind mind control, the man didn't seem to notice.

Rogue turned her head to see who her beer bearing companion was, and was surprised to see . . . . ,

"BRAD?" Rogue's mouth gaped at the dark haired man sitting beside her. How long had he been there? How had she not noticed?

"Sup Rogue," Brad answered casually, taking another swig from _his_ pint of beer.

"What are you doing here?" she questioned, trying to overcome the shock of seeing Lindsay's best friend turned frenemy.

"Same thing as you," Brad replied as he put the now empty glass down onto the bar, having chugged the contents. "Another one please,"

"Oh yeah? And how do you know what _I'm_ doing here?" Rogue folded her arms.

Brad pointed to his head.

Crap.

"Right," Rogue nodded as the barman placed a beer in front of each of them. "And aren't you only nineteen? How are you . . . . ? Never mind,"

"You catch on pretty quick," Brad mocked, earning him a glare. "So what happened with lover boy then? I'm only getting jumbled angry thoughts at him, not all the details,"

"Like I'm gonna talk to _you_ about this," Rogue growled.

"Who else are you gonna moan to? I'm already pretty wasted, so there's no guarantee I'll remember it anyway. Just someone for you to vent to," Brad droned on, trying to chug the whole beer in one swig.

"Whoa, slow down," Rogue took the beer out of his hand. "Looks like I'm not the only one with problems tonight,"

"Yeah, but you're the only one who wants to talk about it," Brad informed in a light tone that had a sense on warning about it.

"Whatever. Just don't drink yourself to death," Rogue pulled the beer out of his reach.

"Couldn't if I wanted to babe. Too much practise with holding my drink," Brad grinned.

"And don't call me babe. You really must be wasted," Rogue grunted.

"Probably. You know you're wasted when you think an X-Man looks hot," Brad shrugged.

Rogue blushed when she realised her was talking about her. Then she frowned. That's how he could tell he was wasted?

"Calm down, the wasted part was a joke," Brad rolled his eyes, _literally_ reading her mind.

So that meant he actually thought she was hot?

'_And I care about this why?'_ Rogue thought to herself, making sure to block Brad out.

"So are you gonna answer my questioned about bionic boy or not?" Brad reached for his beer again.

"I'll tell you my story if you tell me yours," Rogue offered, snatching the beer away and slapping his hand. "No more beer for you,"

"Whatever," Brad rolled his eyes.

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"You go first," Brad groaned eventually.

"Fine," Rogue smiled, happy she could finally vent and hear why he was here. "Forge broke a date with me for some stupid project. And before you go _so?_ this isn't the first time this has happened,"

"I get it. He's not treating you right, so you got mad and bailed," Brad nodded in surprising understanding.

"Yeah, that's exactly what happened," Rogue nodded curiously. Then she grinned. "You're turn!"

"Not much to tell really. Just got bored of hanging around the base and thought about looking Lindsay up. Try to talk to her, explain you know?" Brad shrugged as Rogue nodded encouragingly.

"So how'd you end up here?" Rogue queried.

"Chickened out," Brad sighed, Rogue giving another nod, but this time it was sympathetically.

"You feel like you owe her an apology but you're afraid she won't hang around you long enough for you to say it," Rogue elaborated for him.

"Yeah," Brad agreed, surprised at how understand _she_ was being. "You reading minds now too?"

Rogue smirked. "Nope, not quite there yet,"

"It's not all it's cracked up to be," Brad grimaced, pointing at a guy in on the other side of the room. "See that guy over there?"

Rogue nodded.

"Right now he's thinking some _very_ inappropriate thoughts about the woman at the end of the bar. And I get to hear every word in _excruciating_ detail," Brad grimaced again, making Rogue crack up.

"How about those guys?" Rogue pointed at a group of men playing pool.

"You don't wanna know, and I don't wanna say it," Brad shivered, making Rogue laugh even more.

The rest of the night was spent reading other people's thoughts, playing pool, and drinking excessive amounts of beer.

_**Random Hotel Room in Las Vegas. 10am.**_

Rogue woke up and groggily pushed her head up from the pillow on the bed. She checked the time. 10am.

'_Woops, guess I missed the training session,'_ Rogue grinned to herself. Then she noticed something. This wasn't her room.

She shot up of the bed, only to jump back in when she realised she wasn't wearing anything.

She looked at the lamp on the bedside table. It said _'Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas!' _in fading inky letters.

LAS VEGAS? What was she doing in Las Vegas? Better yet, how did she get her?

Rogue heard a groan come beside her. She turned her head reluctantly, eyes closed, and opened them slowly to see . . . . Brad. Of course. But then the horror that should've came from that realisation came as she spotted something different. There was an incredibly cheap, gaudy ring on her finger . . . . and a marriage certificate next to the table lamp.

Crap.

**So what did you think? Again, sorry it took so long, but I hope you enjoyed! :^)  
**

_**That 70's Show**_

**Eric: I think I've finally decided on a sensible career that's gonna provide me with a really stable future. I'm gonna be a travelling documentary film maker!**

***Kitty looks at Donna, who shrugs***

**Red: Oh come on, you made that up! Hey Kitty, I'm going ice-skating on a rainbow!**


	8. Carnival Ride : Get Outta This Town

**Hey guys! So I got some reviews who told me to update, so I got on my computer and rambled on for about ten pages! (As usual)**

**The next three chapters were inspired by songs from Carrie Underwood's album 'Carnival Ride'.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's Gemma, Brad, Vicki, Lizzie, Heather, Drake, Carlos, Sapphire, Christina, Max and Lindsay. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Wolverine and the X-Men**

'**Gemma Logan 2 : The Problems of Mutant Teenagers'**

**Carnival Ride : Get Outta This Town**

Key:

"Normal speech,"

'_Thinking,'_

'_**Telepathic conversations,'**_

"People from the future talking to those in the present,"

_**Xavier Institute, Cerebro. 10:05am.**_

Gemma wiped her forehead and sighed happily. It had taken all night, and neither she, Bobby or Forge had left Cerebro for any reason, and Forge and Rogue were probably going to have a big fight when he finally saw her (Boy was she right), but they'd finally finished making the adjustments to Cerebro. She could go home . . . . to watch one of her best friends die.

Gemma swallowed the bile that was slowly rising in her throat and grimaced.

"You okay?" Bobby quizzed, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"Just dandy," Gemma muttered.

"Alright, you guys are good to go. Gemma, you need to be holding Bobby's hand when you teleport otherwise he won't go with you," Forge informed. "Now I guess I have to go talk to Rogue,"

"Good luck with _that_," Bobby smirked, earning him an elbow to the gut from Gemma.

"Good luck with going to the future and trying to stop your girlfriend from realising how great you life was and deciding to stay there, thus stranding you in a completely unknown time frame," Forge retorted, _also_ getting an elbow to the gut from Gemma.

"Enough," Gemma moaned, taking Bobby's hand and putting on the Cerebro headset. "See ya later Forge. Thanks for your help,"

"No problem," Forge replied, just as the two blondes teleported out of the room.

Forge walked out of Cerebro and went to find Rogue. He saw Kitty running down the hallway and grabbed her arm, almost pulling it out of its socket since she was running so fast.

"OWWWWWWW! Forge what the hell?" Kitty growled, pulling her arm free of his grip.

"Sorry Kitty. Have you seen Rogue?" Forge questioned.

"Rogue? Haven't you heard?" Kitty raised her eyebrows.

"Heard what?" Forge's face now sported a concerned expression.

"She didn't come home last night. Emma and Jean have been trying to locate her with their combined powers since you've been holed up in Cerebro all night, but with no luck, and Logan's out looking for her right now," Kitty folded her arms.

"Has, has he found her yet?" Forge demanded, grabbing her arm again.

This time, Kitty phased her arm out of his vice-like hold then replied, "Nope. He followed her scent to a bar and the bartender said she left with some guy,"

"She left with _a guy_?" Forge's face was a mixture of anger, hurt, worry and guilt.

"Well what do you expect Forge? We all heard you guys fighting yesterday. Personally I'd start running now before Logan finds you and turns you into Swiss cheese," Kitty turned up her nose and hurried of down the hallway.

Forge guiltily watched her leave and then cursed himself and Gemma and Bobby. It was their fault Rogue was gone and it was also their fault that she hadn't been found sooner. In other words, this whole thing was on the three of them.

_**Random Hotel Room in Las Vegas. 10:05am.**_

Rogue pulled on her clothes then slipped quietly out of the hotel room, trying not to wake Brad she left.

She'd gotten herself into this mess, and it was time to get herself out of it. To do that she only need to do three things:

Buy a pregnancy test, if only to ease her mind.

Hide the marriage certificate from Brad so he wouldn't find out and so she could quickly have the marriage annulled.

Call someone to pick her up.

But who should she call? Gemma. Definitely Gemma. Despite the lack of blood relation, Gemma was her sister. Plus she could teleport here quickly, then teleport the both of them back. And she wouldn't tell anyone about the marriage, wouldn't judge her for it and could help her get over the fear of being pregnant.

Rogue pulled out her phone and hastily found Gemma's number in her contacts. The phone rang for a few seconds then a recorded voice informed, "This number is does not exist anymore,"

Doesn't exist? Had Gemma destroyed her phone or something? Just what exactly had she, Bobby and urgh,_ Forge_, been working on last night? She had a feeling she knew, but that wasn't a possibility she wanted to consider right now.

And Forge! What was she going to tell Forge? Could she tell Forge? Could their relationship survive this big a blow? All good questions. All questions she couldn't answer right now.

So going back to the matter at hand, since Gemma was currently MIA, who could she call? Bobby? He could also be MIA. Forge? Not now, maybe not ever. Kitty? No, she'd tell someone. Peter? They weren't that close. She couldn't call the adults, they'd all question her. Lindsay?

Lindsay! She was perfect! She and Rogue were pretty close and she could also talk to her about Brad! She was the _only_ person at the Institute who knew him well enough to help Rogue make her next move.

Okay, so she'd call Lindsay, but first, she needed to make a pit stop . . . . at the local pharmacy.

_**Xavier Institute, Lindsay's Room, 10:20am.**_

Lindsay sat on her bed thinking. Today was the day Gambit was leaving to join Magneto, which meant she could either stay at the mansion . . . . or go with him. Could she do that? Would the other X-Men _let_ her just up and leave? If she _did_ go, she'd have to slip away quietly, to avoid confrontation, but leave a note or something, so they wouldn't think she'd been abducted. It was a perfectly legal thing to do. She was eighteen, and could live wherever and with whoever she wanted, so why not with Gambit and the others?

Lindsay had never really felt like she belonged here. Sure she had friends, and yeah she had enemies too, but it all just seemed so, so not how she pictured her life. The plan had been to live with her mom and get her brother back. Job one was now impossible, and she'd already completed job two. Max was living happily at the institute, but Lindsay got the sense her brother was feeling the same thing as her. She'd talk to him about it, and make her decision based on his answer. Yeah, that was the _mature_ thing to do, get your little brother to decide your future.

On her bedside table, Lindsay's cell phone began to vibrate. She picked it up and looked at the call I.D. Rogue? Logan would be happy about this. The teenager had been missing since last night after a big blow out with Forge.

"Hello? Rogue?" Lindsay quizzed.

"Lindsay! Oh thank God you picked up!" Rogue sighed in relief.

"Rogue where are you? Logan's really worried about you. You're not being held captive are you?" Lindsay questioned.

"Um, no. Nothing like that. Listen, I need you to do me a favour. I need you to come pick me up from somewhere," Rogue informed.

"Okay, where are you?" Lindsay queried.

"Las Vegas," Rogue mumbled.

"Sorry, where?" Lindsay requested, unable to hear her.

"Las Vegas," Rogue sighed, but this time it was an embarrassed sigh.

"LAS VEGAS? What are you doing in there?" Lindsay exclaimed.

"It's a long story," Rogue groaned.

"You can tell me on the plane ride back. I'll be there in half an hour," Lindsay promised, knowing that the Velocity was faster than any jet.

"Don't tell anyone else okay? Especially Forge," Rogue pleaded.

"Forge? Not that I would, but why can't I tell . . . . ?" Lindsay started to say.

"Plane ride back! See ya!" Rogue called as she hung up.

Lindsay groaned and mentally slapped herself for agreeing to this. Getting into all this drama when she had a huge decision to make? Not a wise idea.

Never the less, she grabbed her jacket from where it hung on her bed post, pulled on her boots and opened the door to her room, ready to head for the hangar.

"Lindsay? Can I talk to you for a second?" Peter asked as she was about to walk out.

"Maybe later, okay Pete? I have something I need to do right now," Lindsay replied, avoiding his gaze. Peter was _another_ factor in her decision.

"Oh? Can I help?" Peter smiled at her.

"Not really. It's kind of a confidential thing. But it won't be when I get back," Lindsay insisted as she sidestepped him and walked swiftly down the hallway to the elevator that would take her to the hangar.

She felt bad about brushing him off like that. But the fact that she could do that easily, just re-enforced one thing, Peter wasn't the guy she wanted to be with. A certain, annoying, cocky Cajun held that position.

_**Xavier Institute, Cerebro of the Future! 10:05am.**_

Gemma opened her eyes, which she had only now realised she'd closed, and looked around. Tricked out Cerebro headset, and still no railings. This was the future alright.

"We're here," Gemma informed Bobby, checking her watch to see it was the exact same time it had been when they'd left the past behind.

"Seriously? It doesn't look all that different from the past," Bobby commented.

"Believe me, it is," Gemma answered, suddenly feeling overwhelmed with the happiness of being home. "Come on, let's go find Abbie,"

Gemma turned them invisible and then teleported to Abbie's room. Abbie was sitting on her bed alone.

'_**Why are we invisible?'**_ Bobby questioned telepathically.

'_**Precaution in case Abbie wasn't alone. The less people that know we're here, the easier it'll be to leave this all behind,'**_ Gemma sighed, a small amount of sadness seeping into her voice.

'_**Gemma, do you want to stay . . . . ?'**_ Bobby began, but Gemma turning off the invisibility cut him short.

"Sup Abs? Miss me?" Gemma asked casually, though all the sadness had left her voice.

Abbie whipped around with a huge grin on her face. "You're back! You're really back!"

Abbie ran towards her friend and gave her a hug filled with happiness, which Gemma returned with the same amount of emotion.

Then Abbie glanced at Bobby. "Who's this?"

"Don't you recognise Bobby Drake? The greatest X-Man to grace the halls of the Xavier Institute!" Gemma quizzed dramatically.

Bobby thought she was joking until Abbie pulled out of the hug to gawk at him while saying, "Are you serious? This is _the_ Iceman?"

"Uh, explain please?" Bobby's confused eyes met Gemma's.

"Didn't I tell you? You're a huge deal around here," Gemma grinned slyly.

"All the stuff you said about the future and you couldn't have mentioned _that_?" Bobby groaned, making Gemma giggle. "The others'll never believe me,"

"What's he doing here anyway?" Abbie questioned, and then added, "Not that it isn't an honour!"

"Making sure she comes back," Bobby shrugged.

All the happiness and admiration – plus the blood - drained from Abbie's face. "W-w-what?"

"He's um . . . . here to make sure I go back to the past," Gemma looked at her feet.

"The movie's called back to the _future_ Gem, that's what made it great," Abbie scowled.

"Abbie, I'm sorry but . . . . I can't stay here," Gemma sighed. "Can't you understand that?"

"Nope, and the gaps in your speech show that you can't either," Abbie folded her arms.

"Whatever, she's going," Bobby insisted somewhat angrily.

"Is that _really_ what you want Gem? Or is _someone else_ filling your head with lies?" Abbie narrowed her eyes at Bobby.

"Looks like the idolisation is over," Bobby smirked.

"Gemma?" Abbie turned to her best friend. "What do _you_ want to do?"

Gemma bit her lip nervously and then gave them both a big grin as she teleported out of the room, calling back, "I wanna go see Taylor,"

_**Outside of a pharmacy in Las Vegas, 11 am.**_

Rogue once again checked the sky for any sign of Lindsay and the Velocity. She knew that Lindsay probably wouldn't land the jet in plain sight in front of a pharmacy, but she was ten minutes late, and Rogue was getting worried that she'd told someone.

"So I heard there was a mutant teenager looking for a ride home? Am I in the right place?" Rogue looked up to Lindsay grinned down at her.

"Lindsay!" Rogue gave her a hug, the pulled back to glare, "You're late,"

"You didn't specify _where_ in Vegas you were," Lindsay retorted, and Rogue mentally slapped herself.

"How did you find me in ten minutes then?" Rogue looked confused.

"I called Brad," Lindsay scoffed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You did what?" Rogue exclaimed, shaking Lindsay's shoulders.

"I called Brad," Lindsay repeated. "Kitty that said Logan said, God that sounds so freaking high school. Good thing we're eighteen huh? Anyway, she said you left with a guy. So I figured Logan wasn't telling the whole story so I asked him who it was and he said it was Brad. I think that's so awesome that you guys are together! Even though I'm still kind of mad at him . . . . ,"

"Lindsay!" Rogue stopped her friend short.

"What?" Lindsay replied frustratedly.

"For one thing, you sound like Gemma. And two! Logan knows? Oh God!" Rogue sighed.

"Hey he's not the worst guy in the world," Lindsay folded her arms as she defended her friend.

"How did he know where I was?" Rogue quizzed.

"He didn't. He just told me where you guys had stayed so I checked that general area. He was really worried about you, you know," Lindsay answered, then she gave Rogue a quivering smile as if she couldn't stop herself from saying something, so she blurted out, "Nice rock by the way,"

Rogue glanced at her ring finger and mentally slapped herself again for not removing it.

"Can we just go home now?" Rogue was truly exhausted.

"Only if that ring is part of the story you're gonna tell me on the way there," Lindsay grinned and Rogue nodded. "Okay, jet's this way,"

_**The Velocity, somewhere over Nebraska, 11:10 am.**_

"Wow," Lindsay commented as she piloted the Velocity and Rogue finished telling her last night's events. "You had _some_ night!"

"That's all you're gonna say? No judging? No, 'You just made the biggest mistake of your life'?" Rogue raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Like I said, he's not the worst guy in the world," Lindsay shrugged.

"But as a husband and maybe even a _father_?" Rogue questioned in disbelief.

"You don't _know_ he's a father," Lindsay pointed out. "Which reminds me, you can check the pee sticks now,"

"Can we _please_ just call them pregnancy tests?" Rogue groaned.

"Whatever. You can go check _the pregnancy tests_ now," Lindsay grinned.

"Stop being happy about this," Rogue moaned, going to get the six pregnancy tests she'd bought from the pharmacy. She wanted to be absolutely sure about this.

"But I _am_ happy about this," Lindsay insisted. "You could be pregnant Rogue! With Brad's baby! Aren't you excited?"

"About teenage pregnancy?" the sides of Rogue's mouth quirked as she placed the sticks on the dashboard.

"Way to put a downer on it," Lindsay shook her head.

"Believe me, there's more than _one_ way to do that," Rogue teased, closing her eyes as she wasn't ready to look yet. "Like what about Forge?"

"Sorry, but my vote's for Brad on this one," Lindsay smiled.

"Well I'm not sure who gets _my _vote," Rogue replied, still not looking.

"Want me to tell you, or do you wanna look for yourself?" Lindsay queried, sounding supportive.

"Tell me," Rogue kept her eyes shut.

"Okay," Lindsay agreed, putting the jet on autopilot and looking at the six tests in turn. "Positive, positive, positive, positive, positive, uh . . . . I'm not sure how to read the last one,"

"Doesn't matter. We've still got five positives," Rogue assured her.

"So, not to go all Doctor Phil on you and all . . . . but how does that make you feel?" Lindsay asked nervously.

"I . . . . don't know," Rogue sighed, leaning her head on the dashboard as Lindsay removed the sticks. "I _also_ don't know how I'm gonna tell Forge, and if he freaks I don't know how I'll get him back,"

"Uh, you might wanna decide what you want to do first. I mean, do you even _want_ Forge back?" Lindsay pointed out.

"Another thing I don't know. How do you think Brad's gonna act?" Rogue questioned.

"I think he'd stick by you and help you raise the kid. Um . . . . . even if you didn't him to," Lindsay added. "He'll wanna be a part of his kid's life,"

"Yeah, and he _is_ kind of sweet. What do you think? No biased answers please," Rogue requested.

"Well, I think he's a great guy who want to do nice things, but sometimes goes about it the wrong way," Lindsay informed. "Unbiased enough?"

Rogue nodded. Why was this so hard? Maybe because Forge hadn't paid attention to her in ages, and Brad had. And they hadn't even been friends!

"Say I did wanna keep the kid and raise it with Brad, think I should keep 'the rock'?" Rogue looked at Lindsay hopefully.

"Well you won't want to have a child out of wedlock," Lindsay joked, and they both burst out laughing.

Rogue stopped laughing and said, "Wait, wait, wait. How is that even gonna work? Logan'll never let Brad near me,"

"So come with me tonight," Lindsay replied, smiling as she finally made her decision.

"Come where?" Rogue looked puzzled.

"Gambit asked me to come with him to work for Magneto and the others. So if you come, you'll be with Brad," Lindsay revealed.

"GAMBIT? When did this happen?" Rogue demanded.

"Do you mean when did he ask me, or when did I start talking to him again?" Lindsay seemed to withdraw into herself a bit.

"BOTH!" Rogue exclaimed.

"Well, he asked me at Stark's party, and he came to see me when I woke up," Lindsay shrugged.

"WHEN?" Rogue practically shouted.

"Rogue, you're yelling at me," Lindsay turned away from her.

"Sorry," Rogue softened her voice and then continued, "Um, when?"

"The night I woke up. You see I didn't actually wake up in the _morning_. But when Gambit left, he told me to sleep, so it just _seemed_ like I did," Lindsay enlightened.

"And so you're running away with him?" Rogue raised an eyebrow. "How . . . . romantic of you,"

"Well, I kind of just made my mind up now. I'm gonna go call him," Lindsay headed for the bathroom for some privacy, but she paused in the doorway. "Want me to tell him I'm bringing a friend?"

Rogue paused. "Will you help me tell Brad?"

"Hey, if you come with me, we're in this together," Lindsay assured her.

"Then I guess I'm in," Rogue beamed.

The two stood in silence for a moment.

"You feel the need to do something friendshippy too?" Lindsay smirked.

"Uh huh. Hug, hands slap or fist bump?" Rogue listed.

"Fist bump?" Lindsay suggested.

The two girls bumped fists and giggled at each other.

_**Xavier Institute, Infirmary of the future! 10:15 am.**_

Gemma reappeared invisible in the infirmary and looked around. All the beds were empty except for . . . .

"Taylor!" Gemma squealed excitedly as she powered down her shield and ran over to her friend.

"Is this a dream?" Taylor asked in a croaky voice as Gemma gave him a hug and pinched his arm for good measure. "Guess not. Mirage?"

"Your hair looks stupid," Gemma said the same thing she'd said the first day they'd met back in kindergarten.

"Nope, can't be a mirage. Guess it's just my best friend back from the past," Taylor hugged Gemma even harder.

"I missed you Tay," Gemma almost hugged the life out of him.

"I missed you too, but you're destroying what's left of my life," Taylor coughed.

"Oh sorry I . . . . don't say that!" Gemma slapped his arm.

"Sorry Gem. But it's getting truer by the minute," Taylor coughed again.

Gemma took in his words and then her eyes welled up with tears.

"Aw don't cry, I've had a good seventeen years," Taylor pulled her into another hug, but that just seemed to make her cry harder.

"She's staying!" they heard Abbie shouted from the hallway.

"She's going!" Bobby yelled back as the two bickering teens came into the room and saw the sight before them. "Gemma, are you . . . . ," he trailed off, realising that 'are you okay' would be a stupid thing to ask right now.

"Could you too stop fighting? She's already cried," Taylor ordered.

"And who would you be?" Bobby folded his arms.

"Mmphayyymor," Gemma mumbled, her head buried in Taylor's shoulder.

"Who?" Bobby looked confused.

"Taylor," Taylor waved from the bed.

"Oh," Bobby nodded in recognition.

"So what are you two fighting about?" Taylor quizzed.

"Whether Gemma stays her or goes to the past," Abbie informed.

"Uh, isn't that her choice?" Taylor gave them a puzzled look.

'_**Apparently not,'**_ Gemma told him telepathically, realising she couldn't talk through her tears.

'_**Gem, don't let them push you around. If you wanna stay, then stay. But if not, well . . . . I'm not gonna be here to protest anyway,'**_ Taylor replied.

"Stop saying things like that," Gemma's head shot up so she could speak properly again.

"Gem, it's true. You're just gonna have to face that," Taylor sighed.

"No, no we can heal you," Gemma protested.

"Didn't you tell her the healed died?" Taylor looked at Abbie, who nodded.

"Well, that's not the only healer I know," Gemma insisted.

"Gemma, Lindsay lost her powers," Bobby reminded her.

"Yeah, well she's still got the demon thing, and her powers evolved from that," Gemma countered. "Plus, if that doesn't work, what about her brother?"

"Gemma, I don't think that's such a good idea," Bobby offered, but just as he finished the sentence, he, Gemma, Taylor and Abbie appeared in cerebro (Still in the future).

"Well I do, so hold on," Gemma grinned as she pulled on the headset and sent them blasting back to the past. "And we are home! Well, _some_ of us are,"

"Did anybody else expect there to be a Doctor Who type vortex with pictures of the past in it?" Taylor coughed.

"Were you expecting a Family Guy season 8 box set?" Gemma laughed. "Now let's go find Lindsay!"

_**Xavier Institute, Hangar, 11:30 am.**_

"So, I already packed, just in case, so you go grab your stuff, and take Willow so Forge doesn't see you," Lindsay instructed.

"How is having Willow with me going to stop Forge from seeing me?" Rogue giggled.

"She'll stand in front of you so he can't see you. Duh!" Lindsay started giggling too as they entered the elevator that would take them upstairs.

"So when is Gambit coming?" Rogue quizzed.

"He should be here in about twenty minutes," Lindsay informed, then she quickly added, "And so should Brad,"

"Brad's coming?" Rogue exclaimed.

"Don't worry, I didn't tell him yet. I just told Gambit you were coming and he said Brad wanted to come pick us up too," Lindsay defended. "This whole running away thing has apparently brought then closer together. I should've tried that a long time ago,"

"Okay, now I'm nervous," Rogue sighed as the elevator brought them to the first floor.

"Don't be, we're still in this together remember?" Lindsay insisted as they each went in a different direction. "Meet you in the foyer in ten minutes!"

"You got it!" Rogue called.

Lindsay smiled to herself as she went down the hallway to grab her things and her brother.

Suddenly Gemma, Bobby, and two people she'd never met came bursting around the corner. One of the strangers did _not _look good.

"LINDSAY! Where the hell have you been?" Gemma demanded as she spotted her.

"Las Vegas," Lindsay replied sheepishly since Gemma was practically shouted at her.

"Huh?" Bobby asked confusedly.

"Unimportant," Lindsay held up a hand. "You need me why?"

"I need you to heal Taylor," Gemma answered.

"Who's Taylor?" Lindsay quizzed.

"He's Taylor," the unknown girl pointed at the unknown boy.

"Hi," Taylor waved weakly.

"Hi," Lindsay waved back. "Who's she?"

"Abbie, now we don't have much time," Gemma hurried her on.

"Gemma, I can't heal anymore," Lindsay looked at her shoes.

"But you still have your demon powers. And they're connected. Please, I need you to try," Gemma pleaded.

Lindsay was about to reply no until she saw the desperate look in Gemma's eyes, and the look of exhaustion on Taylor's face.

She grimaced and replied through gritted teeth, "Fine,"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Gemma hugged her, then pushed her forward and right into Taylor. "Ooh, sorry,"

"It's fine," Lindsay grimaced again, then looked at Taylor. "You're not. Sit,"

Taylor did as he was told and Lindsay sat in front of him and put her hands to his head. She concentrated hard, but felt nothing.

"Nothing's happening," Lindsay sighed impatiently.

"Please, just keep trying. And harder if possible," Gemma urged her on.

Lindsay squeezed her eyes shut and then groaned," Gemma I'm try as much as I can't but it's not . . . . uuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhnnnnnnnnnnnn!"

All the colour drained from Lindsay's faced as she began to jerk violently from side to side, although Taylor looked healthier.

"Rogue! I know you're behind that demon! Can we just please talk?" Forge ran called from the next hallway, as Rogue and Willow came bounding up to the others.

"Lindsay, we need to hurry up and get out of . . . . what's happening to her?" Rogue stopped dead.

"Finally!" Forge threw up his hands as he arrived on scene.

"Shush," Rogue warned as she looked expectantly at Gemma.

"She's healing Taylor," Gemma tried, though she had a pained expression on her face as if she knew it was more than that.

"Why is it every time I leave you and Lindsay alone she ends up almost dying?" Gambit rolled his eyes as he and Brad came around the corner.

"Gambit?" Gemma looked shocked.

"Gambit?" Lindsay managed to ask without open her eyes.

"Traffic was good," Gambit put a hand on her shoulder, then glared at Gemma, "What the hell is going on?"

"I . . . . ," Gemma began.

"Rogue?" Brad looked at the red head in question.

"Brad," she smiled, looking visibly happier even though her face still showed distress over Lindsay's current condition.

"Brad?" Forge growled.

"Brad?" Wolverine snarled as he and the other adults rounded the corner, come to see what all the commotion was about.

At that moment, a cosmic connection formed in the minds of practically everyone there as they all thought the same thing.

_Crap_.

**Will Lindsay be okay? Will Taylor be healed? Will Taylor and Abbie go back to the future? Will Brad live to see the birth of his son or daughter? Or both? And will Kitty ever meet Peter parker's parents? So many cliff hangers!**

**Review please! And sorry it's late! :^)**

_**That 70's Show Season 5 – Over the hills and far away**_

**(Red, Hyde and Eric talk about Kitty's menopause.)**

**Red: Hold it you two. Now before we hit the road, we need to talk about that horrible thing that's taken over your mother.**

**Eric: You mean her 'change of life'?**

**Hyde: I thought we were calling it 'the lady parts problem'.**

**Red: It goes by many names.**


	9. Carnival Ride: Crazy Dreams

**The next three chapters were inspired by songs from Carrie Underwood's album 'Carnival Ride'.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's Gemma, Brad, Vicki, Lizzie, Heather, Drake, Carlos, Sapphire, Christina, Max and Lindsay. No copyright infringement intended.**

* * *

**Wolverine and the X-Men**

'**Gemma Logan 2 : The Problems of Mutant Teenagers'**

**Carnival Ride : Crazy Dreams**

Key:

"Normal speech,"

'_Thinking,'_

'_**Telepathic conversations,'**_

"People from the future talking to those in the present,"

* * *

_**Lindsay's Head, 11:40am.**_

Lindsay's head hurt so much it felt like someone had tossed a jackhammer at it. She could vaguely recognise the blurry people around her, but it made her head hurt even more to try.

She seemed to be floating around in her own head, she could see Taylor, and he was glowing gold, meaning that he was almost healed. She also saw a mirror, oddly enough. She walked over to the mirror and saw herself, except she had red streaks in her hair, lots of them, and she was controlling vines like the ones that Lindsay used to be able to control in real life.

Lindsay stretched out her hand and touched the mirror, only to have her mirror self to the same. There was a huge flash of white light as the mirror began to glow, and Lindsay tried to pull her hand away, but it seemed super-glued to the mirror. She let out a shriek as the light erupted and suddenly . . . . she was back in the hallway with the others?

* * *

_**Xavier Institute, an extremely crowded hallway, 11:40 am.**_

No one dared to move. No one had the guts to speak. Mostly because if they did, there was a strong chance that someone would be skewered.

'_Only someone very stupid would say anything right now,'_ Gemma thought, but then she glanced at Lindsay who was beginning to wake up again. _'Or in pain,'_

"Ow, my head," Lindsay grumbled as she sat up and rubbed the body part in question.

"Isn't that a line from Lilo and Stitch?" Bobby quizzed.

Gemma mentally face palmed. Of course Bobby had to say something.

The sound of metal piercing skin could be heard as Wolverine extended two of his claws _extremely_ slowly.

"Whoa, hold on a minute Logan," Beast quickly interjected in a calming tone. "No one needs to get hurt here,"

"That's up for debate," Forge sneered at Brad. He frowned when Brad's expression remained blank.

"Oh, sorry," Brad said in a monotone when he realised Forge's eyes were on him.

He flinched and made a face, making Rogue laugh and causing Forge's frown to deepen.

Wolverine extended another two claws, allowing the others to hear a delightful sound like nails on a chalkboard.

"Logan, the X-Men do NOT kill," Ororo reminded him.

"I think you guys should probably leave now," Gemma whispered to Gambit.

"I think you're probably right," Gambit whispered back. "But I don't see that happening with Lindsay's current condition and Rogue being . . . . ,"

Rogue's head turned sharply in Remy's direction.

"Never mind," Gambit avoided the redhead's gaze.

"Wait, you're planning on taking Rogue and Lindsay?" Gemma looked surprised at this new information.

And with that little comment, the final two claws extended from Logan's hands.

"Oh Logan would you please give it a rest? My ears are bleeding!" Emma threw her hands up dramatically. "For God's sake, can't we just be rational about this?"

"You? Rational?" Jean scoffed.

"Jean, do be a dear and SHUT UP!" Emma barked as she mind blasted Jean.

"So much for being rational," Storm muttered.

"Works for me," Logan grinned evilly as he lunged for Brad.

"No, stop!" Lindsay called as she threw her hand out in force of habit.

To her surprise, something actually did happen. A huge vine rose out of the ground and began to encase Logan.

"What in the world . . . . ?" Bobby trailed off at the sight.

"Power's back on!" Gemma announced. "God, it's been so long since I've said that!"

"Gemma, I seem to have accidentally obliterated the microwave," Laura informed as she came around the corner.

"You did what?" Gemma raised her eyebrows.

"Oh sorry, I have 'totally trashed' the microwave," Laura corrected herself.

"That's better," Gemma praised.

"No it's not!" Beast exclaimed.

Laura and Gemma exchanged a sheepish smile. "We'll buy you a new one?"

Laura's expression suddenly turned dark. "Who is doing that to Logan?"

"Lindsay," Bobby replied indifferently.

"Bobby!" Rogue folded her arms in outrage.

"What?" Bobby looked confused.

Laura extended her claws and lunged for Lindsay.

"Oh," Bobby nodded in understanding.

"Ohhhhh crap," Lindsay cringed as she sent up an incredibly thick vine to protect herself. "I'm gonna get you for this Drake!"

Laura landed claws first into the vine, retracted them, flipped over the edge, and then launched herself at Lindsay with her toe claw out stretched.

Gemma teleported next the Lindsay and quickly teleported her back out of the way.

Lindsay's head lolled to the side and her eyes rolled back, the whites of her eyes turning black, while her irises turned red, and her pupils remained black, her hair becoming streaked with red. "Oh now you're gonna get it,"

The angry and possibly possessed teenager sent a rippling wave of lines crashing up from the earth towards X-23 as her hair whipped around her.

"Dude are you cured?" Gambit asked Taylor, biting back the growl in his tone.

"I think so," Taylor answered feebly.

"Good. Because if you weren't, I might have to kill you," Gambit replied gravely.

"Hey if anyone's killing someone around here it's gonna be me!" Wolverine insisted.

"No! No killing!" Ororo shouted.

"Uh Storm? I don't think they heard you," Bobby pointed at Laura and Lindsay.

"Enough!" Ororo screamed as she sent a bolt of lightning spiralling down in between Laura and Lindsay, who had been circling each other.

They both jumped back and glared at her.

"No more fighting!" Ororo ordered sternly.

"Fine," Lindsay rolled her scary looking eyes and reverted back to normal.

Laura grunted.

"Hey, no more grunts. Use words," Gemma instructed.

"Whatever," Laura snarled.

"I'm just so proud," Gemma replied sarcastically as she put one hand on her hip.

"Right, now that we've decided to be civilised, what's going to happen?" Ororo glanced mainly at Gambit and Brad.

"Well I'm pretty sure _I've _outstayed _my_ welcome," Brad back slowly towards the door.

"You were _never_ welcome," Forge grunted.

"How come he gets to grunt?" Laura folded her arms, making Gemma roll her eyes.

"I'm gonna take off too," Gambit agreed.

"Not until I've . . . . ," Logan began until vines wound around his mouth.

All eyes turned to Lindsay.

"Tell me you weren't hoping someone would do that?" Lindsay raised a challenging eyebrow.

No one spoke up.

"So um, if you're gonna leave then, uh, bye," Bobby waved awkwardly.

"Yes, please do," Peter glared at Gambit.

"Here, here," Forge scowled at Brad.

"Okay, call you guys later," Lindsay smiled brightly as she headed towards her friends.

"Wait, you're leaving too?" Peter questioned with a hurt look.

"Um, yeah," Lindsay answered awkwardly. "Sorry Peter. You're a great guy and everything, but I just don't think we'd work out. It's better that I tell you that now instead of stringing you along,"

"Uh huh," Peter mumbled, noticing she didn't use his usual nickname in that sentence.

"I hope you find someone better," Lindsay smiled weakly as she went to stand by Gambit.

Max followed her lead and Rogue hesitantly took a step forward.

"Rogue? You can't be serious," Forge requested in disbelief.

Rogue looked from Forge to Brad and then at her stomach. "Actually, I am. Sorry Forge, but I think my baby probably wants to know it's dad,"

The whole room went silent.

"W-w-what?" Forge stammered.

Rogue's nerve began to waver so Lindsay came and stood beside her for moral support.

"It's now or never," Rogue whispered to herself. "When I went out the other night I got drunk with Brad. We flew to Las Vegas, got married and I somehow ended up pregnant,"

"Wow, now that you say it out loud it all sounds so weird," Lindsay commented.

"Well, have a nice life!" Rogue turned around and tried to make a break for it.

"Hold up!" Jean held her in place after recovering from her 'nap'.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Gemma squealed.

"Because you were off gallivanting in the future," Rogue retorted.

"Oh," Gemma retreated.

"Rogue, how could you . . . . ?" Forge started.

"Alcohol. Next question," Lindsay stepped in.

"When were you planning on telling us?" Emma folded her arms.

"Now. Next?" Rogue tried to remain brave.

"You're just gonna leave us?" Gemma cried.

"Are you gonna let Brad stay?" Rogue shot back.

"Point made," Gemma agreed. "Well, feel free to visit. Or at least call. Or we could start writing letters . . . . ,"

"No letters. Just call, webcam or e-mail," Rogue finalised. "And maybe visit,"

"Is no one going to say something about this?" Forge exploded.

"Of course Forge," Emma nodded. "If you decide to visit by plane Rogue, make sure it's before you're six months pregnant,"

"No that kind of say something! Isn't anyone going to stop her?" Forge face palmed.

"Forge she's an eighteen year old girl whose parents don't reside at this mansion. No one here can technically tell her what to do," Emma pointed out.

"Then I guess we'll be hitting the road now," Lindsay grinned.

"Remember to call and visit," Emma gave Rogue and Lindsay a hug.

Everyone else but Forge, Taylor and Abbie followed her lead.

"I'm gonna miss you guys," Gemma sniffed.

"Why? You're losing us two friends but gaining your two old ones," Lindsay pointed out.

"But they need to go back to the future," Gemma reminded them.

"We _all_ need to get back to the future," Abbie corrected.

"Oh give it a rest!" Bobby groaned, making Gemma giggle.

"And you've got an accident-waiting-to-happen boyfriend to cheer you up," Lindsay teased, to which Bobby stuck his tongue out.

"And I'm gonna miss you guys fighting too," Gemma wailed.

"I'm not," Bobby and Lindsay smirked at the same time.

"Hey, I just realised we won't get to say bye to Kitty," Rogue sighed.

"Where is she anyway?" Lindsay questioned.

"Over at Peter's," Gemma replied.

"Is every teenage girl in this house leaving for somewhere?" Logan exclaimed. "And what did Rogue mean by gallivanting off in the future?"

"Uh, you guys should really get going. I'll help you pack the car!" Gemma offered hastily as she teleported outside, leaving Wolverine fuming.

* * *

_**Outside of the Parker Residence, 12pm.**_

"So remind me, who's going to be here?" Kitty asked Peter as they stood on his doorstep, preparing to go into the house.

"Aunt May, Gwen, Harry, Flash, Mary-Jane, Randy, Kenny, Glory, Sally and Sha Shan," Peter replied like it was no big deal.

"Ten people? I thought it was just going to be me, you and your Aunt!" Kitty grimaced. "You lied to me Peter Parker,"

"No, I said I wanted you to meet my friends and family. I just didn't tell you how many people that was. Now c'mon, you can't turn back now," Peter took Kitty's shaking hand.

"Um, yes I can," Kitty pretended to walk away, but Peter kept a firm hold on her hand.

"Kitty, it won't be that bad, trust me," Peter insisted.

"That's what everyone says before something bad happens. Like, 'We have to go to war with Magneto' 'It won't be that bad' and then of course, it is," Kitty offered.

"Kitty come on, they're gonna love you," Peter tried to reason with her.

"Fine, but I'm sitting _very_ close to the door," Kitty grinned mischievously.

"Trusts me, if they really wanna bombard you with questions, that won't even help an ounce," Peter joked.

"And I feel so much better now," Kitty rolled her eyes.

Suddenly the door opened and a woman with glasses and a white bun in her hair stood in the doorway.

"Peter? How long have you been standing out here? Dinner's ready," the woman frowned at him.

"Sorry Aunt May," Peter smiled guiltily.

Aunt May's frown brightened into a wide smile when she spotted Kitty. "And you must be Kitty Pryde, the girl I've heard so much about,"

"It's nice to meet you Mrs Parker," Kitty held her hand out for May to shake.

"Oh no need to be so informal dear, call me Aunt May," May insisted as she took Kitty's hand and pulled her into a hug.

"Okay, um, Aunt May," Kitty replied nervously as the air left her lungs.

"Uh, let's go see the others before Kitty runs out of oxygen," Peter grabbed Kitty's hand and pulled her into the house, allowing her to breathe again . . . . until she saw the mass of people.

Kitty swallowed hard and said timidly, "Hi,"

Big mistake.

All eyes turned to Kitty and people began to make their way over to bombard her with questions.

Kitty's eyes flashed in panic. She wasn't used to this much attention.

"So you're Parker's new girlfriend then? I thought you'd be uglier and more desperate," Flash grinned, making Kitty blush.

"Flash," Sha Shan narrowed her eyes.

"I mean, nice to meet you," Flash retracted.

"Hi, I'm Sha Shan," the girl in question held out her hand for Kitty to shake.

"Kitty," Kitty smiled nervously.

"How is it that puny Parker always manages to date girls that are wayyyyyy out of his league?" Sally asked rudely to no one in particular.

The big guy next to her just stayed silent but rolled his eyes. Must be Randy.

"Must just be lucky that way. Anyhow, is dinner ready?" Peter questioned quickly.

"Not for another ten minutes dear," May replied as she walked back to the kitchen.

Well, so far it hadn't been too bad. Only she hadn't met the inner circle yet, Peter's _best_ friends.

"Game's back on!" Flash announced, him and Randy rushing back to the TV, Sally and Sha Shan in toe, Sha Shan shaking her head.

"Looks like your five minutes of fame with the football team is over," a girl with red hair joked, coming up to Kitty.

"How will I go on?" Kitty joined in, making them both smile.

"I'm Mary-Jane," MJ introduced her herself.

"Think you can guess who I am?" Kitty teased.

"Ooh, might be too hard," MJ grinned, making both girls smirk.

So Kitty had at least _one_ friend out of Peter's _nine_ friends. Life was good.

"Gwen, what's the matter? Why can't you just go introduce herself to Peter's new girl?"

Kitty turned in the direction of the voice and saw a red haired boy talking to a reluctant blonde.

"Who's . . . . ?" Kitty began as she turned back to MJ.

"Harry and Gwen. Peter's best friends. They're a couple too," MJ cut her off.

"Oh, um . . . . they don't wanna meet me?" Kitty asked nervously.

"Well Harry does as you can see, but Gwen and Peter kind of have, or _had_ this thing between them for a while. We think that's the reason he dumped his ex-girlfriend Liz. Following that assumption, Gwen was possibly going to dump Harry, but his dad died a few months ago," MJ informed.

"So, if he hadn't died then Peter and Gwen . . . . ," Kitty trailed off.

"Liz thought so, since it's been a few months she figured Gwen and Peter would just break the news gently to Harry, but then he met you. And I think that plan pretty much flew out the window," MJ smiled knowingly.

Kitty blushed. She'd apparently landed herself in the middle of a love triangle and come out on top without knowing it? Weird.

"So, not to sound too possessive or anything, but . . . . do you think I have anything to worry about?" Kitty questioned meekly.

"Judging by the way he looks at you? I'd say Pete's smitten," MJ beamed at her. "Come on, let's go see who's playing today,"

"Actually I'm not such a big fan of football," Kitty revealed.

Sally, Randy and Flash turned to stare at her.

"Um, unless it's high school football, then I love it," Kitty hastily added.

The three teens turned their attention back to the TV.

"Well that was a close one," MJ teased, sitting down beside Sha Shan on the couch.

"So how's it going?" Peter came to stand beside Kitty.

"Fine. Better than I thought although I still haven't spoken to . . . . ," Kitty began.

"Hi, I'm Harry and this is my girlfriend Gwen," the red haired boy from before seemed to have finally managed to get his girlfriend to come over.

"Kitty," Kitty introduced herself.

For a moment the two couples just stood there; Harry staring expectantly at Gwen, Gwen staring lovingly at Peter, Peter giving Kitty the same look, and Kitty not meeting anyone's eyes, wishing she was anywhere but right there.

"Dinner's ready!" Aunt May called as she began bringing in plates of food.

"Better go help her get the food out. Kitty, MJ? Wanna help?" Peter asked.

"You can't leave now, it's almost over!" Flash whined to MJ.

"It's okay, I think me and Kitty can probably handle it on our own," Peter assured MJ.

"I'll help you Peter. Harry'll probably wanna see the end too," Gwen offered, Harry sighing while going to watch the game.

"Sure," Peter shrugged, while Kitty tried to keep her hint of jealously from showing.

Suddenly Kitty's phone bleeped.

"Excuse me just a moment," Kitty smiled and walked over to a corner of the room. "Hello?"

"Hi Kitty, it's Gemma. Just calling to say Lindsay and Rogue are taking off now to go live with Brad and Gambit and Magneto because Rogue's pregnant with Brad's baby, so you probably won't get to say goodbye. But if you wanna say it over the phone . . . . ," Gemma started to babble.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Rogue's pregnant and she and Lindsay are leaving? Say no more, I'll be home in ten minutes. Don't let them leave just yet okay?" Kitty insisted.

"Okay, see you soon," Gemma hung up.

"Everything alright?" Peter questioned.

"No, sorry but I'm gonna have to go. Lindsay and Rogue are leaving like right now and I'll have to get home soon or I won't see them before they go," Kitty explained.

Peter's face fell a little but he nodded. "Okay, I guess I'll see you later then,"

"I'm really sorry Peter," Kitty mumbled before she kissed him.

"Wow, you should've left earlier," Peter commented with a smile, making Kitty roll her eyes.

"Goodbye, lover boy," Kitty smirked kissing him again before she left.

When Kitty came out of the door she glanced back at the window and saw Gwen pulling Peter into the kitchen to get the plates with a huge grin on her face.

Kitty groaned internally as she walked away. _'Great. So much for having nothing to worry about. I just hope we don't end up like Gemma and Johnny,'_

**Firstly, I would like to apologize for the extremely long wait and would specifically like to apologize to iluv2read12 because I kept telling you I was going to up**

* * *

date and well, we both know how that turned out. I would also like to thank kokofokokopuffs for telling me to update when you did because I'd sort of forgot, so thanks. And well, that's it. Sorry for the wait and thanks for staying loyal to the story. :^)

**Alpha Force – Untouchable**

**Alex and the others were locking up the range rover as Paulo bumped down off the hillside onto the drive (While on a quad bike). As soon as he braked, Tiff climbed off.**

'**You can all go to hell.' She stalked into the hostel and slammed the front door.**

**Li looked at Paulo. 'You must have had a pleasant journey.'**


	10. Intermission

**This chapter was inspired by the song 'Intermission' by Scissor Sisters.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's Gemma, Brad, Vicki, Lizzie, Heather, Drake, Carlos, Sapphire, Christina, Max and Lindsay. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Wolverine and the X-Men**

'**Gemma Logan 2 : The Problems of Mutant Teenagers'**

**Intermission**

Key:

"Normal speech,"

'_Thinking,'_

'_**Telepathic conversations,'**_

"People from the future talking to those in the present,"

_**Xavier Institute, Living Room. 11:30 am.**_

Emma and Logan sat watching the TV with Ororo, Hank, Jean and Scott. The house was extremely quiet because all of the teen x-men were in their rooms.

Gemma and Bobby had been grounded for leaving the mansion and _time frame_ without permission, Forge and Peter were feeling lousy after losing Lindsay and Rogue, Kitty was on the phone with 'Her new best friend Mary-Jane' as everyone called her, Abbie and Taylor were getting settled in after being told they couldn't go home yet because it was too dangerous, and Tilde was on the phone to Max, trying to find out how her best friend was doing without having the phone stolen so people could either profess their love (Peter and Forge) or demand that they return home (Logan).

"Well, I'm gonna go start dinner and check to make sure that Taylor _is_ in fact fully healed," Hank announced, leaving the none existent conversation behind.

"I'm going to go do some gardening," Ororo announced.

"I think left something in the car . . . . ," Scott began.

"Okay that's enough!" Emma threw her hands up. "Let's just all except that our lives have been so hectic lately, we can't even relax without getting bored. And it doesn't exactly help that the kids are all upstairs,"

"We could have an extra danger room session," Logan suggested.

"My God is that your answer for everything?" Emma groaned as she stood up to leave.

"And where are _you_ going?" Logan raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going to go call the hellfire club and tell them I'm alive. That outta make things a little more interesting," Emma replied sarcastically.

"Hey wait up! I need to call Mr Sinister to set up a meeting!" Jean called after Emma as she too left.

For a moment, Scott and Logan just sat in silence.

"Like I said, I left something in the . . . . ," Scott started.

"Just leave," Logan interrupted.

"Thank you," Scott gave a sigh of relief as he fled the room.

Logan rolled his eyes and made a decision. He got up, walked to the bottom of the stairs and shouted, "If you all don't get downstairs in ten minutes we're having a _3am _training session tomorrow! The phones are being unplugged in 30 seconds, so wrap it up!"

Emma walked up to him and sighed, "Oh thank God for that!"

Logan smirked. _Emma Frost_ was happy to have _kids_ around.

"Shut it Logan," Emma snarled, reading his thoughts.

* * *

_**Xavier Institute, a crowded hallway (A/N: Is it ever not?). 11:35am.**_

"Urgh! Stupid Logan!" Forge grumbled as he left his room.

"What's the matter? Does the light burn?" Abbie teased, coming out of hers.

"Lay off Abs," Gemma warned, then she got an evil gleam in her eye. "Dibs on the bathroom!"

"Oh no you don't!" Kitty phased through everyone but was stopped by a telekinetic force-field before she could reach the bathroom door.

"Better luck next time Pryde!" Abbie smirked, just as she was about to cross the threshold.

Gemma teleported into the bathroom and waved to her somewhat annoying friend as she shut the door. "I meant what I said Abs. Dibs. On. The. Bathroom,"

"Urgh! Stupid Gemma!" Abbie more or less repeated what Forge had said earlier.

"And the irony is not lost on me," Bobby stuck his tongue out at her.

"That's a first," Abbie shot back.

"You barely even know me," Bobby rolled his eyes.

"And apparently, the lack of knowledge is mutual," Emma interrupted as she and Logan came up the stairs. "Mind explaining what other powers you and Taylor have?"

"I can fly and control animals," Taylor shrugged. "I'm sure you can see why we're fighting a losing battle in the future,"

"I'm a telepathic telekinetic," Abbie revealed.

"And all this time Jean and the Professor have been trying to convince us that was rare," Bobby rolled his eyes is mock disgust.

"I can also see the future," Abbie informed.

"Wow really?" Kitty exclaimed.

"Yeah, because I've been there," Abbie laughed.

"Now that was just cold," Taylor folded his arms.

"Ten bucks says the water in the bathroom's colder," Gemma insisted as she came into the hallway shivering, clad only in a towel.

"You're kidding right?" Kitty sighed exasperatedly.

"Nope," Gemma shrugged as she teleported to her room.

"Not a problem for me," Bobby informed as he walked into the bathroom.

"Forge, could you go see if you can get the water to work properly?" Kitty pleaded.

"I suppose I've got nothing better to do," Forge agreed as he began to leave.

"You could always to mope about . . . . ," Abbie began before her words became muffled as Taylor put his hand over her mouth.

"Eh heh, sorry about that. She has diarrhoea of the mouth," Taylor smiled uneasily.

"I don't have diarrhoea of anything!" Abbie bit Taylor's finger, making him let go of her mouth.

"Did you just bite me?" Taylor raised an eyebrow.

"Careful, she might have rabies," Kitty smirked, getting her own back for the 'psychic' comment.

"Who has rabies now? Please tell me mom isn't making dog jokes again," Gemma groaned at Logan and Emma as she came out of her room fully clothed now, towel drying her wet hair.

"Not yet, but the day is still young," Beast replied as he appeared at the head of the stairs. "Dinner's ready,"

"Urgh! This really isn't working!" Gemma exploded her towel by accident. "Uh, oops? I'll just go use the hairdryer,"

The blonde disappeared back into her room.

"Never let her towel dry her hair again or we'll be racking up one hell of a bill at Bed, Bath and Beyond," Emma commented as they all began making their way to the dining area, making Wolverine smirk.

"It's always about money isn't it? That's the only reason you're an X-Man, so you can live in this giant mansion," Wolverine teased.

"Uh, huh. Now be a good doggy and go fetch the newspaper Rover," Emma retorted.

"If only we'd been betting on dog jokes and not how cold the shower water was," Kitty pretended to moan.

"Why don't _you_ go get the newspaper Emma? Missing having servants?" Jean sniped from her chair at the table.

Emma and Logan stared at her.

"Um, Jean? It's only banter when they do it," Kitty enlightened.

"Whatever," Jean rolled her eyes.

"Here you go Emma. I got it while you guys were bickering," Taylor handed Emma the newspaper.

"Oh why thank you Taylor," Emma smiled until she saw the front cover.

Then she screamed and dropped the paper.

"No, no, no, no!" Emma yelled as she speed walked out of the dining room, hands flailing. "I'm going to murder Tony freaking Stark!"

"Well that was . . . . weird," Kitty mumbled, not knowing what else to say as Logan had to practically run after Emma.

He grabbed her arm and whirled her around, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Emma, what's going on?"

"My picture Logan! It's in the damn paper!" Emma scowled, yanking her arm free.

"What? Bad hair day?" Abbie quizzed, genuinely confused as to what the big deal was.

"Yes, and I'm wearing an all black outfit that makes me blend in with the scenery! But that's beside the point!" Emma fumed.

"Well what _is_ the point?" Abbie rolled her eyes.

"The point is, _Little Miss Smart Mouth_, Tony Stark has put a picture from the night when we stopped Sinister's goons from taking his amour, in the paper, and I'm in it!" Emma replied as if it was obvious.

"So? Shouldn't that help mutant rights because you were helping?" Abbie questioned.

"My God, you're honestly a telepath?" Emma raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Hey!" Abbie folded her arms, insulted.

"The problem, what I've been saying practically _every day_ since I came back . . . . ," Emma began.

"In my defence, I wasn't there," Abbie pointed out.

"In my _offense_ I'd like to once again point out you're a telepath!" Emma retorted. "If the Hellfire club see this damn picture then me and Gemma are deader than Jean's fashion sense!"

"I guess you weren't kidding about telling the hellfire club you were alive then," Scott tried to ease the tension, which earned him an ice cold stare.

"_My_ fashion sense? Have you ever heard the saying, 'Don't wear all white after the labour day'?" Jean shot back.

"Let me see that. Maybe it's not that bad," Kitty took the newspaper from Emma. "Oh see look, your picture isn't even that big . . . . oh crap,"

"What now?" Forge groaned.

"Take a look," Kitty passed the newspaper around her friends, each one either gasping, groaning or in Taylor and Abbie's case, looking completely dumbstruck.

"Gemma's not going to like this," Peter voiced what they were all thinking, tossing the newspaper onto the coffee table.

"Really? What gave it away?" Bobby rolled his eyes.

"Bobby, don't be an ass," Forge warned.

"Bobby? Being an ass? No," Abbie commented snidely.

"Can someone please tell me what the problem is?" Taylor interrupted.

"The problem is that Gemma's ex-boyfriend is in the 'Soon to be married' section," Kitty answered.

"Okay, that's kind of rough, but since she's dating Bobby . . . . ," Taylor began.

"The girl he's marrying is the girl who broke him and Gemma up. And that girl was just using the two of them so she could turn them over to William Stryker. The guy who gave Logan and Laura their claws," Kitty finished gravely.

"Oh," Taylor looked down, sympathising.

"Yeah," Kitty nodded as they all stared angrily at the newspaper.

"Bathroom's free!" Gemma bounded down the stairs with a smile and gave the others weird glances as they stared at the newspaper as if it were the devil, Emma angrily punching numbers on the phone, Wolverine muttering about how he was going to murder some blonde.

Too bad she fit into that category. Was she in trouble?

"What's going on?" she sighed, knowing that her happy mood was about to be disturbed by what she liked to refer to as 'a day ruiner'.

Kitty wearily handed her the newspaper.

Gemma raised an eyebrow and looked at the front page.

Then she frowned. "Personally I can't see why you're all so upset. That's a pretty good picture . . . . that mom's in. Crap,"

"It gets worse flip to . . . . ," Abbie began.

"No, no it doesn't. That's it. That's completely it," Bobby snatched the newspaper out of Gemma's hand.

"Have a cow much?" Gemma raised an eyebrow.

"Bobby she has a right to know," Peter picked the newspaper out of Bobby's hands kindly but firmly and handed it to Gemma.

"You might wanna sit down," Kitty advised.

"Okay," Gemma agreed and levitated into the lotus position.

"Alright, not what I had in mind but it'll do," Kitty accepted.

"So I guess we're in some serious crap then? Ah the joy," Gemma rolled her eyes. "So what page am I flipping to Abs?"

"Eighteen," Abbie replied.

Gemma flicked through the pages until she came to the soon to be married page.

"Bobby, is this your way of proposing to me?" Gemma raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Bobby exclaimed, Wolverine shooting him an accusing glare. "No, no! I swear!"

Gemma shrugged. "Whatever. So what am I supposed to be . . . . uh huh. Right. Message received,"

Gemma calmly put the newspaper back down on the coffee table.

And then she groaned. Loudly.

"Why is that flame brain so damn stupid?" Gemma threw her hands up. "Now I have to go spend the whole day making sure his fiancée doesn't kill him! So _not_ what I was planning to do today!"

The others looked at her with mildly confused expressions, apart from Bobby who looked a bit angry.

"Uh, why?" he asked, trying and failing to mask the annoyance in his voice.

"Because that idiot needs to finally get over that begins-with-S-rhymes-with-hut once and for all, otherwise he's going to get himself assassinated or handed over to yet another band of knife wielding scientists with a flair for dealing with genetically altered super-dumbasses!" Gemma exploded with fury.

"Well if you're going on a 'talk to people we strongly dislike' spree, drop me off at Stark Industries. That cheesy smiled womanizer is going to get a piece of my mind! And I might just take a piece of his while I'm at it!" Emma announced.

"Great, we'll take the teleporter express and . . . . ," Gemma plotted.

"Whoa, hang on . . . . ," Logan began to interrupt.

"Logan, you sound like a broken record. Do shut up dear," Emma cut him off.

Logan narrowed his eyes. "And the real Emma Frost _finally_ returns,"

"Like she ever left," Jean snorted.

She immediately passed out.

"Emma," Beast sighed as he picked Jean up and headed for the infirmary. "We've talked about this! And someone's going to have to turn that oven off in ten minutes if I'm not back!"

"I thought dinner was already ready?" Forge shouted, coming back from fixing the shower.

"Considering the amount of monolguing and banter that usually happens more than ten times a day, I always tell you dinner is ready a little earlier than it actually is!" Beast called over his shoulder.

"Well, you guys do that, and we'll go talk to some ignoramuses," Gemma suggested.

"You're not _seriously_ going to protect that half-wit are you?" Bobby folded his arms and gave Gemma what he hoped was a cold stare.

It wasn't very effective.

"Yeah, someone's gotta knock some sense into him. And I've just been itching to punch that moron," Gemma smiled, kissing Bobby on the check. "You're not _seriously _jealous of him are you?"

"Jealous? After what he did? Let's just say I'm not exactly afraid of the 'competition'," Bobby scoffed.

"Wow, could your ego _be_ any bigger?" Abbie mocked.

"Are you auditioning for Chandler Bing in some kind of 'Friends' reunion special?" Bobby smirked, making Abbie scowl.

"I call dibs on Rachel!" Kitty shouted.

"Good to know," Gemma smiled. "I'll be Phoebe,"

"Well I suppose only one person here's fit to be Joey," Taylor pretended to brag.

"Yeah, Peter," Gemma teased.

"Your words, they hurt me so," Taylor feigned despair.

"Speaking of hurting, we'd better get a move on," Emma insisted, heading towards the door. "Anyone care to join?"

"I suppose I could find a few vendettas to call up if I had the need," Kitty grinned. "Or I could just go see Peter,"

"And make sure Gwen Stacey didn't pop by for a visit?" Gemma raised an eyebrow.

"Would I?" Kitty questioned slyly.

"Well I know I would," Abbie cut in.

"Bam! There's your vendetta!" Bobby exclaimed.

"Don't tempt me. But I do wanna go see Peter," Kitty smiled.

"Last call," Gemma looked at the others.

"Need some moral support?" Taylor offered.

"Not from the newly healed," Gemma insisted.

"_Healed_ being the operative word," Taylor huffed.

"How about the new boyfriend? You mentioned beating sense into him," Bobby gave her a big smile.

"Actually, I think I need to do this by myself," Gemma decided.

"Afraid we'll try to stop you from murdering Christina?" Bobby raised an eyebrow.

"And that's why you're my boyfriend," Gemma kissed him as she took Kitty and Emma's hands. "See you guys later!"

"Wait, Gemma I haven't showered yet! And I'm still in my pjs and bunny slippers!" Kitty wailed as the three females teleported away.

"So, who wants to go eat Beast's dinner?" Bobby suggested slyly.

What was left of the group (Bobby, Peter, Forge, Abbie and Taylor) ran towards the kitchen.

* * *

_**Baxter Building Exterior, New York City. 12:15 am.**_

Of all the 100 places that Gemma wanted to never return to, the Baxter building admittedly wasn't that high on the list, but it still made the list. Around number 49. Then again, these days even _the future_ made that list. But that _was_ number 100.

After dropping off Emma and Kitty at their destinations, she'd half determined/half reluctantly ended up here.

She took a deep breath and crossed the street to the entrance . . . . and was promptly bombarded by paparazzi.

"Miss Logan! Miss Logan! Are you here to beg that Mr Storm takes you back?" one asked as he shoved a camera in her face, the flash blinding her and making her stumble.

"Are you here take revenge on his new fiancée for breaking the two of you up?" another one questioned, making her unsure whether he grabbed her hand to steady her, or to make sure she didn't leave.

"Could you all just please st . . . . beg that he takes me back? I would beg that tool for anything other than the chance to give him a taste of my right hook!" Gemma growled as she shook off the paparazzo's hand and stomped up the steps to the building. "Beg that stupid flame brain? _Yeah right_!"

* * *

_**Baxter Building, Johnny Storm's Room, 12:15am.**_

"I'll be out in a second sweetie," Christina waved to her – shudder – fiancée as he walked out the door, which she immediately closed as her com-link began to bleep in her ear. "Hello?"

"Let's dispense with the pleasantries and get to work," the voice at the other end replied.

"I still don't see how me marrying Johnny Storm gets you Gemma, her dad and her weirdo sister," Christina groaned. "They're not even on speaking terms with the flame brain anymore,"

"I put the ad in the paper. I assure you, she'll come running to save her precious ex-boyfriend," the voice insisted.

"Either that, or she just wants to kick your ass," another voice on the com-link smirked.

"I thought you were supposed to prevent that _Wade_. That _is_ why you were hired," Christina reminded him.

"It's _Deadpool_. And I was _hired_ to take out Storm and to neutralise his ex-girl. Personally, I think he traded down when he proposed to you. That was some sick mind play that psychic did," Wade mocked.

"_Please_, like I even _needed_ it," Christina scoffed. "I could've done it without the mind games,"

"But isn't that how you would've got him anyway? Through your _own_ mind games?" Wade teased.

"Stryker, do we really need this idiot?" Christina whined to the first voice.

"Yeah, I think you do. Since your duo went soooo well the _first_ time," Wade snickered.

"Silence! You both have a job to do. Deadpool, do you have a visual on Weapon G?" Stryker demanded.

"Well _duh_. That's how I know Storm traded down. The fiery little blonde is stepping angrily through the front doors as we speak," Wade informed.

"Better get ready to neutralise," Christina sniped.

"Remember, I do want her _alive_," Stryker reminded them.

"Yeah, I heard you the first time," Christina groaned.

"And little-miss-fire-in-her-eyes is coming through the elevator doors," Deadpool informed. "Not that I care Chrissy, but you might want to stay out of her way,"

"No way! I'm not afraid of her!" Christina insisted, even though her voice was wavering.

"Oh you should be," a voice called gravely from the doorway.

Christina whipped around to see Gemma leaning against the wooden frame, Johnny looking worried behind her, Susan looking smug since she didn't like Christina, Reed looking intrigued, and Ben looking downright excited.

"Oops, looks like she got away from me. _Sorry_," Deadpool snickered through the com-link. "Don't worry, I'm close by if you need any back up,"

Even still, Christina took in a scared breath and swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry.

* * *

_**The Morganville Vampires ~ Kiss of Death**_

**Eve - We nearly got killed over ice cream.**

**Shane – Another thing I don't want on my tombstone.**

**Claire – You have others?**

**Shane – *Holds up one finger* I thought it wasn't loaded. *Second finger* Hand me a match so I can check the gas tank. *Third finger* Killed over ice cream. Basically, any death that requires me to be stupid first.**

**Michael - *Shakes head* So what's on your good list?**

**Shane – Oh, you know. Stuff that gets me rerun on CNN. Like, I died saving a busload of supermodels.**

***Claire smacks his arm***

**Shane – Ow! **_**Saving**_** them! What did you think I meant?**


	11. Misery Business

**This chapter was inspired by the song 'Misery Business' by Paramore.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's Gemma, Brad, Vicki, Lizzie, Heather, Drake, Carlos, Sapphire, Christina, Max and Lindsay. No copyright infringement intended.**

**Wolverine and the X-Men**

'**Gemma Logan 2 : The Problems of Mutant Teenagers'**

**Misery Business**

Key:

"Normal speech,"

'_Thinking,'_

'_**Telepathic conversations,'**_

"People from the future talking to those in the present,"

* * *

_**Baxter Building, Hallway, ten minutes before.**_

'_Could someone please tell me why I insist on taking the elevator every time I come here instead of just teleporting?'_ Gemma ranted in her head as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

'_Take a deep breath and just rip the band aid off. And then Christina's head,'_ Gemma told herself as she stepped through the doors.

Ben saw her first.

"Kid! You're back! Wait, why are you b . . . . oh. Oh this should be good. Johnny! There's someone here to see ya flame brain!" Ben shouted, excitement flaring in his eyes.

"Ben what are you shouting about . . . . oh. Oh. _Oh_," Reed repeated a few times.

"Why does everyone keep saying . . . . _oh_," Susan interrupted, confused until it dawned on her.

"Yeah hi. Is that dumbass here or not?" Gemma folded her arms, officially ending the pleasantries, even though she _had_ intended to be civil. And she was 99% sure it wasn't their fault.

"Yes, he's . . . . ," Susan began.

"Alright, what is it Ben? Did you get stuck in a door or something . . . . oh," Johnny gulped at the sight of his ex-girlfriend.

Then he smiled fondly, remembering something from the past.

And then he flinched, remembering something _else_ from the past.

"Okay I swear to God, the next person here to say oh gets slapped upside the head," Gemma struggled to contain her anger.

Christina's voice sounded from the next room.

"_Oh_," Gemma growled, and then rolled her eyes and slapped herself upside the head. "Me and my big mouth,"

She began to stalk towards the room where she'd heard Christina's voice. _Johnny's_ room.

'_It just gets better and better,'_ Gemma sighed inwardly.

Then she remembered than since she was now with Bobby, she shouldn't care whether or not Christina was in Johnny's room. No one should ever care about their ex's new partner when they have one of their own. But just because she _shouldn't_ doesn't mean she _wouldn't._

She pushed the door open soundlessly and was about to barge through it when she heard Christina talking to someone. She decided to lean against the door frame to see just what evil scheme that rhymes-with-witch was up to this time.

"No way! I'm not afraid of her!" Christina insisted waveringly to someone Gemma couldn't see.

Probably an intercom or something.

Ah well, now seemed like as a good a time as any to announce her presence, so Gemma called in a grave tone, "Oh you should be,"

Christina whipped around and there was a slight glimmer of fear in her eye. Then she tried to mask it, and to her credit, you could only still tell a little.

"Hey Gem, long time no see. So, why should I be afraid of you?" Christina asked, trying and failing to sound casual.

"Oh I don't know _Chris_. Why don't you tell me?" Gemma replied, pulling off a casual but deadly tone with perfected skill as she used her telekinesis to yank the com-link from Christina's ear. "Or maybe we should ask your friend,"

The com-link crackled and then went dead.

"A$$hole," Christina muttered under her breath.

"Gemma please, what are you doing here?" Johnny walked quickly in between the two of them.

"Came to see what out of this world parasite had latched onto you to make you marry Christina. How silly of me to forget that she's the _definition_ of the word parasite," Gemma answered in the same tone as before, but with a little bit on venom on that last bit.

"Jealous much?" Christina tried to sound snarky. She just sounded pathetic.

"No. I've moved on from you're fiancée. But I still feel an obligation to the rest of the world to not let the two of you reproduce. With Johnny's stupidity and you're evilness, that'd be one messed up kid," Gemma sniped nonchalantly.

"Evilness? You're such a _child_," Christina smirked, beginning to regain a little confidence.

"That outfit? You're such a _w%!*e_," Gemma raised an eyebrow mockingly.

Christina's mouth dropped open for a moment, but she quickly closed it and barked, "Didn't your parents ever teach you any manners?"

"Did your parents ever teach you how to put on clothes?" Gemma retorted. "Or maybe they did. You know, if they came from the period of leopard print loincloths,"

Christina managed to stop her mouth from dropping that time, and shot back, "Yeah, they got them from the same place that your mom shops,"

Gemma grinned in approval at the passable insult, "Nah, my mom doesn't shop at the trash-for-cash store,"

"Yeah, she's a _service_ at the trash-for-cash store," Christina quipped.

"Well you would know, being their most popular product," Gemma fired back.

"Gem, Chris, please just put the claws away. Gemma, I hardly see why my personal life means anything to you anymore, considering you're not a part of it," Johnny reasoned.

"You know Johnny, that's a very intelligent and reasonable answer," Gemma agreed. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Nothing I . . . . Gemma, stay out of my mind," Johnny sighed.

'_**Why? Afraid I'll find something I won't like?' **_Gemma asked in his head.

'_**Afraid you'll like something you will?' **_Johnny smirked in a very him like way._** 'Owwww,'**_

'_**Stop whining like a baby, I didn't even mind blast you,' **_Gemma rolled her eyes._** 'Even though I should for that last comment,'**_

'_**No, but something did,' Johnny **_insisted in a slightly less boyish tone.

'_**Yeah, I can see that. Considering there's a big mind block in your brain that's controlling what you say and do outside of your mind,' **_Gemma rolled her eyes again.

'_**Well get it out! It hurts!' **_Johnny whined.

'_**What did I tell you about whining?' **_Gemma folded her arms, which looked extremely weird to the others around them.

'_**Gemma!' **_Johnny pleaded.

"Oh fine," Gemma replied aloud.

"What do you mean, _oh fine_?" Christina quizzed, oblivious to the mind conversation.

"Johnny's got a mind block in his head. Say, you wouldn't have anything to do with that would you?" Gemma raised an eyebrow sarcastically.

Susan, Reed and Ben prepared to use their powers.

Christina's eyes darted around the room. Not knowing what to do, she flung her head back and screamed at the top of her voice, "DEADPOOL!"

Nothing happened for a moment, and Christina started to panic. Then a nearby window crashed open and a smoke-like knock out gas filled the room, making even her pass out.

"You idiot, you weren't supposed to knock me out . . . . ," Christina trailed off as she slipped into unconsciousness.

"Oh my ultimate bad," Wade smirked mockingly under his gas mask as he began to pick up the people he was assigned to capture, and in Christina's case, help back to base.

"Pity about blondie, she had so much fight in her. Reminds me of someone I used to know,"

* * *

_**Stark Industries, Tony Stark's Office. **__**12:15pm.**_

"Emma. Emma. Emma please calm down! You're destroying my office!" Tony Stark shouted at the enormously mad blonde woman who was currently doing just that, watching the destruction from the leather seat at his desk.

"Not until you give me a machine that can go back in time and change that damn paper!" Emma growled angrily, turning to him and balling her fists up.

"Emma you know that's not possible," Tony sighed.

"Not possible? Not possible? You fly around in a high-tech suit living out your childhood robot fantasy and I can turn my skin to diamonds which allows me to fulfil mine! Don't tell me what's not 8l00dy possible!" Emma practically screamed at him, banging her fists down on the desk.

"Emma, please don't make me call security," Tony groaned jokingly.

Emma turned into her diamond form, taking care to make her flesh turn into the glinting rock threateningly slowly.

"It was just a joke Emma," Tony held up his hands.

"_You're_ a joke you suit wearing pillock!" Emma grabbed his collar and pulled his face so close to hers that he could feel her fast paced, furious breathing. "And it's _Ms Frost_ to you,"

"What, Logan hasn't proposed yet?" Tony made another attempt at humour.

Glimmers of confusion, fear, and then finally more anger flashed through her eyes.

_Logan?_ _Proposing?_ Would he? And would she say yes? Was she ready for that kind of commitment? Were either of them?

Emma tightened her hold on Stark's collar, informing him that he'd struck a nerve, and he'd better not press on it.

"If that wasn't another one of your stupid jokes, I'll bash your rich-boy skull in!" Emma vowed, pulling him forward and then back, making him stagger into his chair.

"It was a joke. Of course it was a joke E . . . . err, Ms Frost," Tony tried to put a lid on that subject as he fixed his tie.

"Well my picture on the cover of a newspaper is NOT a joke _Tony_. If the Hellfire Club . . . . ," Emma began to rant.

"I know, I know. I screwed up okay?" Tony admitted, sighing yet again.

"No, not okay. Do you not understand the seriousness of the situation?" Emma threw up her hands.

"I do. Which is why I'm offering you the protection of my Iron Man suits . . . . ," Tony started.

"Oh please! The X-Men would do a much better job of protecting myself and Gemma than your glorified Halloween costume!" Emma insisted.

"Well if you're soooo protected why are you here?" Tony challenged smugly.

"Because you're an ignorant buffoon who needs to know when he's gotten either himself or others in a humungous mess! Besides, I highly doubt the Hellfire club will storm the walls of the X-Mansion! They'll do it with finesse and by being sneaky. And I have very little protection against that," Emma informed him. "They could seize our financial assets, reveal the true identities of the X-Men, kill from afar, use mind-control to turn us against one another, and these are just a _few_ examples!"

"Emma, what am I supposed to do?" Tony held up his hands in confusion.

"YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO SIT THERE AND LISTEN TO ME YELL AT YOU!" Emma screamed at him, slamming a diamond fist down on his desk, thus breaking it in two.

Tony's jaw went slack and dropped to the floor, but no words came out as he was afraid of what Emma might do if he even said something so simple as 'Would you like a drink?'

Emma went back into human form and smoothed down her clothes, taking a deep breath. "Well, I think I feel somewhat better now after getting that out of my system,"

"You had to take it out on my desk?" Tony Stark pulled his jaw closed with great effort.

Emma raised an eyebrow.

"Not that it matters, I can always replace it. I have the money to do that. It's not a problem," Tony insisted hastily.

Emma folded her arms.

"Not that I'm bragging about being a millionaire. I'm not. Bragging that is, I mean I _am_ a millionaire it's just . . . . I'm not bragging!" Tony defended loudly.

"You know Mr Stark, you remind me a lot of my daughter," Emma informed.

"Because I'm headstrong and creative?" Tony offered hopefully.

"No, because you babble when nervous and don't think things through all the way to the end," Emma replied coolly as she moved to leave. "I shall let the Hellfire Club announcement slide for now Mr Stark, as I don't believe a bumbling idiot like yourself could do much to help me. But let us be clear, make a mistake like that again and I'll do to you what I did to your desk,"

Tony gaped after her as the blonde sashayed out of the room, wishing he had never met the woman. Because he was very sure Emma Frost was the kind of woman who was true to her word.

* * *

_**In the living room of the Parker Residence, 12pm.**_

"Hey Gwen, are you done making the popcorn yet?" Harry called from the couch that he, Peter and Mary-Jane occupied, ready to watch 'Superhero Movie' which was apparently a spoof that included half of New York's heroes in it. They'd all decided to have popcorn instead of dinner, since Aunt May was out today and couldn't force them to have a proper meal.

"_Almost_ Harry," Gwen answered from the kitchen, annoyed.

"Good popcorn takes time Harry," MJ joked, having begun to dislike Gwen after meeting Kitty and seeing the way Gwen _still_ acted around Peter.

"Wait, Gemma I haven't showered yet! And I'm still in my pjs and bunny slippers!" Kitty wailed as she, Gemma and Emma teleported into the room.

"Sorry Kit, I'm on a schedule," Gemma shrugged as she and Emma teleported back out of the room.

"Wow, didn't realise this was a pyjama party," Gwen commented curtly as she came into the room with the popcorn, sitting on the armchair closest to Peter.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Kitty jumped back at the sight in front of her, instinctively throwing her hands over her chest, even though she was wearing a t-shirt.

"Um, what are you doing Kitty?" Peter asked, standing up and both referring to her gesture and the fact that she'd just _teleported_ into the room.

"And how did you get here?" Harry quizzed, amazed.

"Oh, um . . . . . wow, Gemma really let the cat out of the bag on this one," Kitty fumbled for words. "Well, I guess I might as well tell you all the truth . . . . what you just witnessed is a disappearing act gone terribly wrong. My stage-magic teacher will be so ashamed,"

Peter raised an eyebrow, but his smiling face was trembling with the effort it took to not laugh. Partly because of the lame excuse, and partly because he thought she just looked so _cute _in those bunny slippers.

"Let me guess, you were also trying to pull a rabbit out of a hat but you came up with those ever so sexy slippers?" MJ nodded grinningly at Kitty's feet.

"Um, uh . . . . look over there! It's Spiderman!" Kitty pointed out of the window behind them.

MJ, Gwen and Harry all turned to look while Peter just shook his head as Kitty phased her slippers through the floor.

"No it's not," Gwen folded her arms as she turned back around.

"And what happened to your slippers?" Harry questioned.

"Yes it was, and I was never even wearing slippers! Seriously, you three need to get your eyes checked," Kitty insisted.

"Did you see Spiderman Peter?" Gwen queried.

"Who, me? Oh yeah, sailed right past that window just as you guys turned around. Web-slinging Houdini," Peter pretended to grumble, making Kitty fight not to laugh.

"Something weird's going on here," Gwen pursed her lips.

"Urgh, don't tell me your a sceptic? It's those critics who always ruin magic for the true believers," Kitty tutted, causing Peter's smile to tremble even more.

"What are _you_ smiling about?" Gwen narrowed her eyes.

"Just having fun with my friends," Peter shrugged.

"Honestly, you're also a _paranoid_ sceptic?" Kitty groaned, making MJ snort even if she didn't fully understand the joke.

"Could you stop insulting me for one second to actually tell us the truth?" Gwen requested icily, snaking a glance at Peter.

Harry looked nervous and MJ stopped snorting, raising an eyebrow in a gesture that said 'Sorry Kitty, but I'm with Gwen. I wanna know,'

Kitty sighed and walked over to stand next Peter, whispering, "I'll tell them I'm a mutant if you tell them you're Spiderman?"

Peter gave her a, 'Sorry, but I can't,' look and Kitty sighed sadly. Peter gulped, took her hand and then nodded.

"Guys, me and Kitty have something to tell you," Peter began.

"She's not pregnant is she?" Gwen smirked.

"Are you calling me fat?" Kitty raised an eyebrow, but she lowered it when Peter squeezed her hand.

"It's probably easier to show you," Peter moved on, dropping Kitty's hand and slinging two webs from each of his hands at the corners of the room, his friends watching in amazement.

Kitty phased herself through the floor and then back up to the surface, taking Peter's hand again.

"Eh heh, and I'm a mutant. So if you guys are anti mutant then um . . . . nice knowing you?" Kitty shrugged.

Gwen actually had to sit down, Harry cut his eyes to slits at Peter and MJ dropped her jaw, then composed herself and managed a weak smile.

"Well that's new," MJ tried and failed to strengthen he smile.

"And it's also a lot to take in," Gwen added.

"You! It's your fault my father's dead!" Harry grabbed Peter by his collar.

"Harry stop!" Gwen tried to pull him off but he pushed her away.

"I got this one," Kitty informed as she phased her hand through Peter's arm, making him intangible too.

Harry gaped as Peter slipped through his fingers. The person he held responsible for his father's death was slipping through his fingers.

"Stop letting your girlfriend fight your battles! Fight me like a man!" Harry growled.

"I don't wanna fight you at all Harry! It's not my fault your father died! He was hurting people and needed to be stopped! He killed himself!" Peter shouted, pushing Kitty behind him (He could do this since they were both intangible).

"Don't you dare say that!" Harry lunged at Peter who had now let go of Kitty and was tangible again.

Peter went sailing across the room but Kitty went intangible again, caught him and sat him down gently on the floor.

"Okay that's it Harry. I like you – as much as you can like someone you barely know – but if you take one more swing at Peter then _I'll_ take a swing at _you_. And my bite is just as bad as my bark," Kitty warned, adopting a fighting stance.

"Harry please listen to her. I don't want to see you hurt and you're being ridiculous," Gwen pleaded.

"Ridiculous? Don't want to see me hurt? You think I don't notice the way you look at Peter? I know that you two were going to get together before my dad died! I think it's the only thing that's keeping you with me!" Harry screamed in her face.

"You mean . . . . you emotionally blackmailed me to be with you? I, I can't believe this!" Gwen fought back, although she looked a bit frightened.

"What I can't believe is that my two best friends were so ready to screw me over! And that one of them killed my dad!" Harry retorted angrily.

"I did NOT kill your dad!" Peter yelled as he got up from the floor.

"Yes you . . . . ," Harry began.

"Okay I think it's time for you to leave," Kitty growled as she grabbed Harry's arm, made him intangible and then stun him out of the house.

"Are you okay Peter?" MJ went to check his bleeding nose as Kitty flipped an angrily retreating Harry off.

"I'm so sorry guys," Gwen apologized genuinely. "And I'm not anti-mutant,"

"Oh, then I guess you're just anti-_me_," Kitty joked.

"No it's just . . . . ," Gwen cast a sideways glance at Peter. "As you can see from Harry's outburst, there's a few things that weren't resolved before you joined the group,"

Kitty nodded understandingly.

"Speaking of Harry, what are we gonna do?" MJ interrupted, saying her first few words in a while. "Oh, and I'm not anti-mutant either, or anti-Spiderman,"

"Oh same," Gwen added quickly, not wanting Peter to think she didn't except him.

"You guys can't tell anyone okay?" Kitty insisted, to which the two girls nodded.

"But back to Harry," MJ reminded them.

"I honestly don't think there's anything I can say to him," Peter admitted.

"I'll talk to him," Gwen offered, albeit a little nervously.

"Thanks Gwen, but I think this should come from me," Peter smiled gratefully.

"Um, not that I'm not happy we're all getting along, but do you guys have anything I could change into?" Kitty gestured to her ensemble.

"Sure, we had a sleep over last night so I can lend you some clothes," MJ offered.

"Okay, let's go do that so I don't have to stand here in pjs any longer," Kitty grinned, then added, "Oh, one second,"

She phased through the floor and came back up with her slippers. "Let's go,"

* * *

**Shorter than usual, but I wanted to get something out. Hope you enjoyed. :^)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Gemma Logan 2: The Problems Of Mutant Teenagers**

**Chapter 12**

_**If you don't know the drill by now about the different types of speaking please refer back to previous chapters. :^)**_

_**I own nothing but my OC's (Once again, refer to previous chapters if unsure)**_

**Just to let you know, none of the stuff included in the chapter that shall not be named (The one this one is replacing) will be in this one, so please do me a favour and forget the plotline.**

*****ALSO!****

**You can thank Lollipop Child (A.K.A my friend Cissa) for the editing of this chapter and for the fact that hopefully it isn't as bad as the last one. Thanks Cissa! :^)**

* * *

*Gemma's Dream (Also Flashback)*

"_Miss Logan! Miss Logan! Miss Logan wake up immediately or I'll send you to the principal's office!" Victoria Evans, one of the current English teachers at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters shouted at a very bored blonde in the back of the classroom._

_The girl next to her – Amy Bradford - lightly tapped said blonde on the shoulder, making her mind come gently back down to earth in an instant._

"_Hmm?" Gemma mused with a slightly dazed expression._

_Amy, smirking, pointed at Ms Evans, who's hair was literally blazing with anger, as it was one of her powers: to be able to create fire._

_Gemma jumped out of her seat and stayed there, floating, making the entire class laugh cruelly at the blushing blonde as she looked around with a frightened expression on her face._

'_Not again!' Gemma thought as she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to concentrate on lowering herself to the ground. The then twelve year old Gemma blushed brightly, looking as if she were about to cry._

_Gemma's powers had just started to get yet _another_ power flux as of late, which meant her telekinesis was out of whack for the foreseeable future unless she was 100% concentrated on keeping it in check, which she had been doing moments ago when she was supposed to be concentrating on her class work._

"_Gemma get down here this instant!" Ms Evans scowled at the terrified blonde._

_Gemma looked helplessly at her, willing the words "I can't!" to come out, but the words died on her lips. She settled for a confused shake of the head._

"_What do you mean no? Get down NOW!" Ms Evans yelled at Gemma._

"_I-I-I-I can't miss. My t-t-t-telekinesis is a-a-a-acting up a-a-a-again," Gemma stammered nervously._

_Even as the words had left her mouth Gemma knew Ms Evans wouldn't care. She'd never liked Gemma because a) She was only filling in for Gemma's mother, Mrs Emma G. Frost-Logan, while she was away on a mission with Storm and Cyclops, and b) Gemma was more powerful than her even at such a young age, and the blonde's constant power emergences only highlighted this fact._

"_That's hardly my problem is it?" Ms Evans narrowed her eyes._

_Gemma looked the woman up and down. She was wearing an unflattering grey pin-stripe skirt with a matching jacket, a crinkled white shirt, black dress shoes and her long black hair was floating untidily around her shoulders after her burning hair had disintegrated the clips and hair-ties that had previously held it up in a mostly presentable bun._

"_No, I don't suppose it is," Gemma tried her best to mimic the cold tone that her mother always used when she was degrading someone. Gemma knew she shouldn't be degrading a teacher, but the woman was just sooo infuriating! Her father had always told her to never let anyone walk all over, and other than with Ms Evans, she always followed that advice. So now . . . . "I can see by that outfit that you've already got quite a few problems to deal with without adding mine into the mix,"_

_The class glanced at her, open mouthed, and then resumed laughing even harder – this time at Ms Evans – while the teacher in question silently fumed._

"_Principal Xavier's office!" Ms Evans ordered. "Now!" _

"_Uh, slight problem," Gemma gestured at her floating body, causing some of the class to laugh so hard they clutched their stomachs in pain._

"_Teleport then!" Ms Evans shouted at her._

"_Well if you'd suggested that in the first place we wouldn't be having this problem would we?" Gemma raised a cocky eyebrow at the teacher before making her departure and leaving the class laughing so hard that one boy fell out of his seat._

"_You can join her Taylor if you think this is so hilarious!" Ms Evans growled, pulling the boy up and shoving him out of the classroom door._

*End Of Gemma's Flash Back/Dream (For Now)*

* * *

_**Harlem, New York. An old abandoned warehouse, 4pm.**_

"Eh heh, hi Professor X . . ." Gemma continued to speak as if she were still in her dream, unknowingly waking herself up by doing this and plummeting to the floor, as she'd also been floating whilst) she dreamt, just as she had done so in the memory. "Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Gemma hit the ground with a bone breaking thud, wincing heavily as she landed on her left arm.

"Dammittttttttttttttttttttttt!" Gemma muttered as she slowly rose to a sitting position, re-aligning her elbow so that it would heal properly, simultaneously causing herself horrific pain every second. "Guess Evans was right about one thing, I shouldn't day dream so much,"

Gemma looked around at her dull surroundings and groaned, partly because of the sight and partly because her arm was beginning to heal, but was still painful.

The room had grey concrete walls with matching ceilings and floors; a small, metal, black table with a chair of the same material tucked under it in one corner; an extremely dirty toilet and sink in the opposite corner; and a grey, metal framed bed with white pillows and sheets, and a black blanket. The small room actually reminded Gemma of Ms Evans and her unfashionable way of dressing; plus, the room was small and cold, much like Ms Evans's heart seemed to be.

Gemma thought back to what had happened to Ms Evans after that day in class, and the previous conversation with Professor Xavier. Xavier had decided Ms Evans didn't work well with children, so he'd sent her off to do some work in the world for mutant kind.

'_Maybe he'd decided to show that mutants were harmless by making her become a decorator. I'm sure no one would be afraid of a person with an imagination THAT bland,'_ Gemma smirked to herself.

She then gave the room another once over. There was a window - barred of course - above her bed, and a white door with a small glass window - also barred - that had a red light glowing from above it on the other side of the door, which was no doubt a power inhibitor. Obviously not a very good one considering Gemma had been telekinetically floating just moments ago, but her telepathy, teleportation and exploding abilities seemed to be down.

'_Okay, so no blowing up doors, contacting the others or simply skipping out of here, but at least I can still fly, heal and possibly change my eye colour,' Gemma shrugged as she began to form a plan whilst checking her eye colour in the compact she always kept in her pocket. 'Nope, no changing eye colours. Guess they'll just have to be my natural blue for a while. It's a nice change as of late,'_

She walked slowly up to the door and curled her hand into a fist, preparing to knock. Just as her hand was about to come into contact with the metal of the door, Gemma paused, whirled around and focused her telekinetic abilities on the metal bars of the window. The bars began to move, but suddenly a burning pain shot through Gemma's mind and she had to abort her mission.

'_Burning?'_ Gemma thought through waves of fire as she collapsed onto the bed. _'Definitely Ms E's decorating skills,'_

"I wouldn't do that if I were you Gemma," Christina's voice sounded from overhead.

"Cameras," Gemma spat, clutching her head as if hearing Christina's voice seemed to increase her pain, although it was slowly ebbing away. "Of course there're cameras,"

"Well duh _Gemmy_. We do so have to keep an eye on your troublesome little self," Christina chuckled evilly.

_Troublesome_. That was what Ms Evans used to call her.

"Christina, have you ever met anyone called Victoria Evans before? Even briefly?" Gemma requested of the room in general, trying to find the camera and speakers as she did so.

"Can't say I have," Christina replied conversationally. "Why?"

"You remind me of her." Gemma continued to wander around the room.

"I suppose that's an insult?" Christina sighed as if she were disappointed.

"Depends on what you think of her," Gemma answered distractedly as she stood up on her bed and looked at the window, as if the camera would be on one of the walls looking in on her.

"Guess we'll have to wait until I meet her. I'd say you could introduce us but I don't see you leaving here in the near future," Christina informed her. "Camera's invisible, in the ceiling and tiny Gemma."

Gemma stepped down from the bed, shrugging, "Creative. And neither do I, but I suppose being here isn't all bad,"

"And why's that? Because I'm such a whiz with conversation?" Christina snickered.

"Well there's that. Plus I've always wanted to see Harlem, even if it _is_ just from a barred window," Gemma enlightened.

If Christina had been having a drink, she'd have spit it out.

"H-h-how do you know we're in Harlem?" Christina demanded, although the power behind her voice was lost in the stammering.

"Like I said, I can see out of the window. If you didn't want me to know where I was then you shouldn't have given me a _'room with a view'_," Gemma teased lightly.

"Well, just because you know where we are doesn't mean you'll escape," Christina warned, regaining her nerve.

"Oh I have no intention of trying to escape," Gemma informed as she flopped down on the bed and placed her hands behind her head, closing her eyes as if trying to get some sleep.

"Oh?" Christina prompted curiously.

"Nah, I've had a long day. I kind of feel like playing damsel in distress just this one time," Gemma yawned. "And I know just the knight to come and save me."

* * *

*Gemma's Dream/Flash Back*

_Taylor stared sadly at his shoes, waiting for the blonde girl from class to come out of Xavier's office so he could get his punishment over with. He hadn't meant to laugh, it was just . . . well, it was just as Ms Evans had put it. Hilarious._

_He stifled another giggle as the door to Xavier's office opened and the blonde, the one Ms Evans had called Gemma, came out of the room with Professor Xavier standing in the door way behind her._

"_Thank you Professor Xavier, for like, everything." Gemma beamed as she unexpectedly hugged the teacher, catching him off guard before he hugged her back._

"_No problem Miss Logan. We'll have Ms Evans's new assignment sorted out promptly, so I suggest you and Taylor over there just go to your next class." Xavier smiled as Taylor let out a breath of relief he hadn't realised he'd been holding in._

"_So I don't have any punishment?" Taylor enquired, waiting for the catch._

"_Do you feel you need one?" Xavier asked._

"_N-n-n . . ." Taylor was about to reply, before thinking better of it. "Maybe, but I promise not to disrespect the teacher like that again."_

"_Then you have no need to be here," Professor Xavier gave Taylor and Gemma another smile before returning to his office. "Good bye children."_

_A moment of silence descended on Taylor and Gemma as they stood there awkwardly, having never met before._

"_Um, do you have science with Miss Hale now?" Gemma broke the silence._

"_Uh huh." Taylor nodded._

"_Do you wanna walk . . ."Gemma began._

"_Uh huh." Taylor nodded once again._

_Gemma blinked at his lack of different responses for a moment, before walking towards the door, Taylor following a small distance behind her. She held the door open for him as she walked through, and Taylor mumbled his thanks._

_Truthfully, Taylor didn't have many friends since it had come out that he was gay last year. His previous friends had avoided him, and he hadn't made any new ones because he was too scared that people would mistreat him. Last lesson had been the first time he'd really laughed in months._

"_So you're Taylor right?" Gemma quizzed, trying to make conversation while making sure he kept pace with her and didn't just walk behind her._

"_Uh huh."_

"_And you seem to be in quite a few of my classes?"_

"_Uh huh."_

"_And you have 'kick me' sign on your back."_

"_Uh huh . . . . wait what?" Taylor jumped as Gemma pulled a white piece of paper with the words 'Kick me, I'm a loser' written on the back. "Oh, uh, yeah. If you could just give me that to put in the bin I'd be really grateful."_

"_No need." Gemma shrugged, making Taylor's face fall as he misunderstood her. Gemma exploded it into tiny fireworks that she made spell out the words 'Kick me, and you're the loser for acting like a homophobic twit'._

_Taylor's eyes widened at the display of playful acceptance. "Th-th-thanks."_

"_No problem. For some reason the mutants at this school strive for acceptance but don't offer it most of the time. That's not right." Gemma smiled at Taylor, who smiled back._

"_That's probably the nicest thing anyone in my year has said to me in ages." Taylor grinned._

_Gemma gave him a sad smile, "That really sucks. Hey, what're you doing for dinner?"_

_Taylor sighed. "Eating in a tree so that no one'll find me."_

_Gemma blinked at him and then began to laugh, making Taylor look hurt. Then he replayed his words in his head, hearing them for the first time as amusing. He began to laugh too._

"_Th-th-that's not happening," Gemma giggled as she wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. "Y-y-you're eating with me and my friend Abbie. No one is eating in a tree this lunchtime."_

_Taylor raised his eyebrows at her last sentence and they both burst out laughing again._

_Suddenly a shudder went through them both and they were lifted into the air by Gemma's telekinesis._

"_What's going on?" Taylor asked in a frightened tone._

"_I-I-I dunno. The Professor said my telekinesis wouldn't bother me anymore because he'd placed telepathic blocks in my brain while my powers expanded. I guess one of the blocks just broke." Gemma tried to explain._

"_What broke it?" Taylor quizzed, relaxing only a little._

"_My mom told me that one time when she developed a psychic rapport with my dad, that she felt a psychic shudder go through them both. Maybe when we started becoming friends we . . .) made a psychic rapport too?" Gemma suggested._

"_Okayyyyyyy, what does that mean?" Taylor requested._

"_Dunno," Gemma shrugged as they floated along to the door of their science class. "But we're here."_

_With a lot of concentration Gemma managed to lower them both to the floor. They walked quickly into the room and sat next to Abbie, who was waving Gemma over._

"_Hi Abbie, this is Taylor." Gemma introduced._

"_Hey." Abbie smiled as Gemma and Taylor sat down._

"_Hey." Taylor repeated at her._

"_Settle down class," Miss Hale shushed them. "Now, today's lesson in mutant biology: Psychic Rapports."_

*End Of Gemma's Dream/Flash Back*

* * *

_**Xavier's Institute, 4pm. Living Room.**_

Abbie rolled her eyes angrily as she handed over yet another $200 bill of monopoly money to the blonde haired boy next to her. She no longer just disliked Bobby, she was pretty sure after having to sell all four of the train stations she'd bought in order to pay off her debts for landing on one of his hotels that she had a small hatred for him. Or it might have just been the tension of the game and the buzz she was getting from the two bottles of cola she'd downed. It was hard to say.

"Hey, cheer up Abbie, that's $200 off the $1000 you owe me." Bobby pointed out in mock sympathy.

"The game's rigged." Abbie muttered under her breath as Taylor patted her arm sympathetically.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Bobby teased, resuming what he'd been doing for the past hour and a half; counting his money.

"Don't worry Abbie, you could still win this." MJ insisted from her place next to Kitty.

Taylor, Bobby, Abbie, MJ, Kitty, Peter, Forge, Piotr and (Much to Kitty's annoyance) Gwen had been playing monopoly in the living room ever since Kitty and her friends (Plus Gwen) had arrived home.

"Suuuuuuuure." Bobby nodded unconvincingly, making Abbie's fist curl slightly. The girl was not without anger issues.

"Abs," Taylor spoke up sharply, making the girl relax her fist. Even though they regularly fought without Gemma around, Taylor and Abbie were really close, so he was one of the few people she actually listened to. "It's just a game remember? Besides, we both know you'll get the last laugh in twenty years when his male pattern baldness sets in."

The non-future born members of the group burst out laughing, aside from Bobby, who blushed frantically as he tried and failed to look like he didn't care.

"W-w-w-what?" Kitty tried to stop her laughter, yet another failed attempt for that day.

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about." Bobby rolled his eyes embarrassedly, mentally cursing his father's name.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Abbie threw the blonde's words back in his face, which was flaming red with shame and anger right now.

"Oh whatever. You're just lying to make her feel better." Bobby scoffed, literally _throwing_ the dice onto the game bored.

"W . . ." Abbie was about to repeated her words when she realised the dice score Bobby had just rolled would take him right onto the square that held the only hotel she had. "Eh heh, never mind ice for brains. And pay up."

Bobby stared wide eyed at the dice before be-grudgingly handing over the money, muttering under his breath, "Stupid game."

"Oh c'mon Bobby don't be a sore . . . " Taylor began before putting his hands to his head as if it would somehow stop the sharp jab of pain going through his head.

"Uh, I think the word you're looking for is LOSER." Abbie smirked triumphantly at Bobby, not noticing Taylor's headache.

"Hmmnnnn." Taylor whimpered as his pain intensified.

"Um, are you okay?" Kitty shook Taylor's shoulder gently.

"F-f-fine." Taylor stammered, squeezing his hair slightly as he shook his head, as if it would help.

"This isn't a side effect of Lindsay's healing is it?" Bobby quizzed, not noticing the pain stricken face that Piotr now had on at the simple mention of his ex-almost-girlfriend's name.

"N-n-no it's . . ." Taylor trailed off as an image of Gemma lying on a metal bed, either asleep or unconscious, in a dull gray room appeared in his mind. After seeing the image, the pain quickly flittered away and the realisation that it was the psychic rapport he and Gemma had made all those years ago set in.

"It's what?" Abbie put a concerned hand on his shoulder.

"Gemma. I think she's in trouble."

*Gemma's Dream/Flashba

* * *

ck* **(A/N: Stuff about rapports is my own version of what rapports are since I couldn't find any solid information on the subject)**

"_Psychic rapports can vary in power and depth depending on the relationship of the telepath and the other person, as well as the telepath's own level of power. For example, a telepath with a weak level of power but a strong relationship with the person they share their rapport with could have the same rapport strength as a telepath with a high level of power but a poor relationship with someone. Rapports can develop in different ways, including warnings of when one of the rapport's members are in danger, or having a strong connection with one another, thus always knowing where the other person is. This all depends on the personalities of the people," Miss Hale informed, half the class hooked on her every word . . . the other half doodling or gossiping. Gemma, Taylor and Abbie were somewhere in between._

"_Isn't it weird that she's talking about rapports after we-" Taylor began before Abbie cut him off with a 'Shhh!'_

'_**Yeah, wayyyy weird, but considering the world we live in, I tend to just let mildly weird things slide these days.' **__Gemma shrugged, earning a funny and slightly annoyed look from Abbie, who was scribbling down notes and not involved in the conversation._

'_**Well, any idea which rapport we have?' **__Taylor questioned._

_Gemma looked at him seriously,__** 'Only time will tell.'**_

_Taylor raised an eyebrow, causing Gemma to giggle and say,__** 'Just kidding.'**_

_Gemma's sudden giggle earned her a few more weird looks, this time from some of the other members of the class as well as Abbie._

'_**Maybe we should dial down the 'seemingly weirdness'' **__Taylor suggested._

_Gemma shook her head (More weird looks),__** 'My parents are Emma Frost and James Logan. I've had the words 'Really Weird' invisibly tattooed on my forehead since the day I was born.'**_

_Taylor stifled a laugh (This time HE got a weird look) and replied,__** 'Yeah, I guess you're right.'**_

'_**Wouldn't be the first time.' **__Gemma faked a boastfully smug look._

'_**Gemma, Taylor,' **__Miss Hale's voice in their heads went unnoticed by the rest of the class as she continued to lecture as well as communicate to the rest of the class.__** 'I shall give you one chance to turn to the board and listen in class or you'll both have detention, is that clear?'**_

'_**Yes Miss Hale.' **__Taylor and Gemma chorused._

_The thing about Miss Hale was, she was fair, but in no way a push over, so she was a great teacher to have. Unlike _some _people._

*End of Gemma's Flashback/Dream*

* * *

_**Harlem, New York. An old abandoned warehouse, 5:00pm.**_

"Is it a bird?" Gemma sighed as she lay with on the bed with her eyes closed, continuing the fifth round of twenty questions which she'd been playing with Christina for the last half an hour. Gemma chose to believe the only reason she was doing this was because she was bored, not because she had no hope left or was letting Christina off the hook.

"Yes." Christina replied somewhat cheerfully, obviously thinking the opposite.

"Is it big?"

"Yes."

"Does it have to do with the President?"

"Yes."

"Is it an eagle?"

"Yes," Gemma could hear the smile in Christina's voice. "My turn, still wanna play?"

"If you want," Gemma shrugged emotionlessly. Maybe she WAS putting too much faith in this whole psychic rapport thing, after all her other telepathic powers were down, why wouldn't this one be? "Actually, never mind. I think I'm gonna take a nap."

"Another?" Christina asked incredulously, considering Gemma would now have a grand total of eight smallish naps since she'd arrived at the warehouse.

"I sleep when I'm too bored." Gemma gave another half-hearted shrug.

"Well YOU'RE an interesting prisoner." Christina droned.

"Get me some better company and I might liven up a bit." Gemma sniped.

"Fine." Gemma could hear the evil grin in Christina's voice.

Suddenly Johnny Storm was pushed into the room with his arm in a sling, blood shot eyes and several red spots on his arm, presumably from having his DNA 'sampled'.

"I said _better_." Gemma replied, but she still hastily got off the bed and knelt next to where Johnny had collapsed. "How can I help match stick?"

"Don't leave me." Johnny pleaded as Gemma cradled his head on her lap.

Gemma laughed humourlessly, "Trust me hot shot, not an option right now. So what happened?"

Now it was Johnny's turn to laugh humourlessly, "Oh you know, the usual."

"Are you gonna tell me in detail or are we gonna continue to pretend like we're having the time of our lives?" Gemma raised an eyebrow.

"As long as that time is with you, it WILL be the time of my . . ." Johnny began before Gemma put a finger to his lips.

"Save your voice." Gemma made an excuse to get him to shut up.

"But I haven't hurt my . . ." Johnny started to speak again.

"I said save it Johnny." Gemma replied softly, although there was an underlying tone of power to it which made Johnny be quiet.

"Well this is just touching. Really, I wish I had my camera." Christina snickered.

"If this is one of your 'picture perfect moments' then you must have one messed up scrap book." Gemma grunted as she helped Johnny to her bed and then sat crossed legged on the floor beside it.

"Sadly I don't have a scrap book." Christina informed.

"My heart weeps for you." Gemma grumbled bitterly.

"Christina? How many times has Dr Stryker told you not to play with the intercom?" Gemma heard the familiar voice of Wade Wilson. Just those two sentences made her anger levels rise.

"You're a coward!" the words burst from her mouth at the man she couldn't see.

"Excuse me?" he replied, a little testily because of her accusing tone and the general comment. "I've been called a lot of things in my time, but a coward is not one of them,"

"Then you've been lied to your entire life. You're a coward and a puppet and if we were in an ACTUAL prison you'd be Stryker's bi . . . . ," Gemma began to rant as the power of her speech made her rise to her feet.

"And why's that?" Deadpool interrupted, his tone implying he was trying to control a lot of anger.

"With the skills you have, you could be out living the high life, or even trying to start a family like my dad . . . . ," Gemma started.

"Your dad was the coward! He left because he couldn't, no wouldn't-"

"Kill? Not killing doesn't make you a coward. It shows you have the strength to take someone down without have to kill someone. _Killing_ makes you a coward and an _amateur_ because you're too unskilled to subdue your opponent and you don't have enough control to knock someone out instead of taking someone out,"

"Let's test that theory shall we? Because I'm pretty sure I could knock _you_ out,"

"That's big talk coming from a guy in _tights_,"

An enraged growl sounded over the intercom and there was suddenly banging on Gemma's cell door.

"Wade no! If you kill her Stryker'll kill _you_!" Christina cried from the other side of the door. She must've been trying to hold him back because Gemma heard a hand slip from someone's arm and a crash as someone was thrown into a wall.

Christina _cared_ about Wade? Christina cared about _anyone_ but herself?

"I'm not gonna kill her, I'm just going to put her to _sleep_!" Wade spat as he finally kicked the door open with such force that it went flying towards Gemma.

Gemma smiled, realising her plan had worked, stopping the door from slamming into her with a millimetre to spare. She then proceeded to hurl the door back at Wade, slamming him into the wall outside of the cell and pinning him there.

Gemma lifted Johnny and herself telekinetically out of the cell, preparing to run and pausing only to call over her shoulder, "Like I said Wade, it's all about _control_,"

* * *

_**The X-Jet, 5:10pm.**_

"Turn left, now right, then down, now and to the left," Taylor dictated as Emma flew the X-Jet containing their fellow X-Men towards the place Taylor had insisted Gemma was at.

"Taylor," Emma's voice sound clipped and as if she was gritting her teeth against some serious anger. "We're in a _jet_. The only time it matters if we go up or down is when we _land or take off_,"

"I'm just telling you what my instincts are telling me," Taylor shrugged.

"And why _are_ we following the instincts of an eighteen year old boy?" Jean folded her arms and groaned.

"Because he knows where my daughter and your superior is," Emma smiled smugly.

"My _what_?" Jean exclaimed.

"Of course I only mean on a power scale Jean, I would never say Gemma was your superior in any _other _way," Emma assured her in a very _un_assuring voice.

"Ladies _please_," Beast groaned, turning to Scott and Logan. "Don't you two have something to say?"

Logan and Scott shared a look. Considering their past histories with these women, it was best to leave them to their fighting to avoid dragging up bits and pieces from their pasts.

"I think we'll stay out of this one," Scott answered.

"Big surprise there," Bobby rolled his eyes, although they had a worried look in them that hadn't let up since Taylor first got a 'bad feeling' about Gemma.

"I think we're here," Logan spoke as if Bobby hadn't said anything.

"What makes you say that?" Abbie quizzed. "Taylor never said we were here,"

An alarm went off in the warehouse below and a fire ball burst out of a window. A _human shaped_ fire ball. A familiar blonde stuck her head out of the window, careful to avoid the glass, and shouted something incomprehensible from their positions inside the jet, at said human shaped fire ball, before being dragged back into the warehouse.

"Never mind," Abbie replied sheepishly as Emma landed the jet.

* * *

_**Harlem, New York. An old abandoned warehouse, 5:05pm.**_

Gemma and Johnny ran down the halls of the warehouse in a way that could only be described as running madly about with no sense of direction and like their lives depended on it at the same time.

"We've gotta find Sue and the others!" Johnny called to Gemma as they rounded a corner and came face to face with five guards that Gemma threw aside like pieces of paper as they pounded down the corridor.

"Okay maybe they're . . . . ," Gemma began to say as suddenly a girl with wild blonde hair containing brown streaks burst through a door, kicking the door into Johnny and sending him hurtling out of the window.

"Johnny!" Gemma shouted out of the window, to which she received a thumbs up before being _wo_man-handled back into the corridor by the angry looking blondette (**A/N: Blonde/Brunette)**, who proceeded to pin Gemma against one wall before propelling her into the wall opposite, where Gemma smacked her jaw and broke several teeth, making blood pour into her mouth. "Earghhhhhh! Anger issues much?"

Gemma had about two seconds to wipe blood dribble from her mouth while sizing the girl up before she pounced on her again.

The girl wore a brown halter-neck top with black edges that cut off just below her chest, over a black fish net long-sleeved top that went down to the waistband of a mini skirt that matched her halter neck. She wore black fish net tights and heeled knee-length black boots. She wore black finger-less gloves that reached her elbows and had a black hair band in her waist-length, straight, brown streaked blonde hair that seemed to get crazier as she thrashed around the hallway, landing punch after punch before Gemma could even process her position.

"Okay, what the _hell_ is your problem?" Gemma asked quickly before ducking to stop from having her jaw dislocated.

The girl didn't answer, obviously assuming if she spoke to Gemma she might have to slow down, giving Gemma the opportunity to gain an upper hand. One thing was for sure, the girl had super-speed and one hell of a temper. She didn't seem to have super strength, but the girl could move like lightning and seemed to be trained in _at least_ one martial art, which more than made up for it.

Gemma lifted the girl into the air telekinetically, attempting to stop her, but the girl spun around in the air, appearing to create a tornado that threw Gemma around so that she became unable to hold the girl, who then expertly spun out of the tornado and landed a kick into Gemma's stomach.

"Gemma!" Johnny screamed as he vaulted through the window, the other X-Men in toe.

"Fire pretty," Gemma tried to grab Johnny's alight arm as her head spun in time with the whirlwind that was the mystery girl.

"What the-" Bobby broke off at the confusing sight of his girlfriend reaching for her ex-boyfriend, hesitating long enough to be kicked in the back of the knees, making him fold like an envelope.

"Sabertooth," Wolverine growled, looking around for his enemy.

"What are you talking about, Sabertooth isn't . . . . ," Gemma trailed off as she stared at the mystery girl who was currently sizing up her multiple opponents. "Oh _wow_,"

"Sabertooth has a daughter?" Kitty asked dumbfounded.

"Is she like Laura?" Emma questioned, taking note of the angry gleam in Laura's eyes as she stood next to her.

"Do you mean a clone or homicidal?" Jean queried offhandedly.

The girl sped over to Jean, kicked her feet out from under her with one leg, jumped, spun, and kicked her in the stomach with the other leg, sending her flying across the hallway.

"One out of two so far," Gemma raised her hand shakily as Johnny helped her to her feet. "Hey is Bobby okay? I coulda sworn he was here a minute ago,"

"Over here," Bobby mimicked her action as he tried to get up, currently on his hands and knees.

"Enough!" Emma growled exasperatedly, putting her hands to her head she attempted to knock out the girl, sending out her ice blue telepathic waves . . . . only to grasp her head in pain as black anti-telepathic waves were sent out of the girl's headband.

"Emma!" Logan ran to his girlfriend's side but was instantly batted away as Emma tried to re-gain her composure.

"Maybe she's Magneto and Sabertooth's niece or something," Abbie suggested shortly before she was thrown into Kitty, who phased so that Abbie ended up out of the window.

"Abs!" Taylor shouted, flying after her. "Birds in the surrounding area . . . . a little help please?"

Suddenly a flock of pigeons flew in through the window and attacked the blondette, causing her to zip around the room throwing punches at random X-Men as she tried to escape them.

"Now that's what you call an _offensive defence_," Bobby commented as he was clocked in the chest as the girl zoomed past.

"Lightning!" Storm yelled as she blasted the spot the girl had just been in. Unfortunately Beast had been diving after the girl at that exact same time, so he got hit instead. "Hank!"

"This is going really badly," Forge insulted as he ran into the hallway with Ben, Reed and Sue behind him.

"You've been gone this whole time?" Kitty gave him a confused look.

"Gee, thanks Kitty. I feel like _such_ a valuable member of the team," Forge rolled his eyes.

"Where's Piotr?" Scott quizzed.

"Here," Piotr announced as he stuck his foot out in front of the speeding girl.

She stumbled, turned that into a spin and ended up in a fighting crouch . . . . only to have Laura's adamantium laced arm wrap around her neck.

"You people are pathetic," Laura rolled her eyes at the X-Men scattered around the floor either getting themselves up or helping someone else up.

"We love you too Laura," Gemma smirked. "Now hows about we find out who little miss crouching tiger hidden speedster is,"

"That's seriously the best you can come up with?" Kitty raised an eyebrow.

"It's been a hard day," Gemma sighed.

"Who are you?" Laura demanded as she tightened her hold on the girl.

The girl's black and brown painted adamantium finger nails grew as her eyes narrowed, but instantly retracted as Laura tightened her grip further and cut off the girl's breathing.

"Whoa, whoa! Laura ease up a bit!" Gemma lifted the girl out of Laura's grip and held her in place, this time making sure she couldn't move. "Now tell us who you are,"

The girl cut her eyes to slits and said nothing.

"Tell us who you are or we'll see if you have a healing factor. The _hard_ way," Laura threatened.

The girl blinked at her, but remained silent.

Gemma telekinetically tossed the hair band out of the girl's hair.

The brunette scowled at her and began to speak before someone could telepathically force her to. "My name is Feral,"

"_Feral_?" Kitty snorted.

The girl glowered at her. "My _codename_ is Feral you moron,"

Kitty stopped laughing and bawled her fists. "Oh I'll show you who's a moron-"

"You already have. Just now. _Moron_," Feral bated her.

"What's your real name?" Gemma questioned as if they'd said nothing.

The girl turned her deep hazel eyes on her. "Hazel. Hazel Creed,"

Wolverine and Laura growled at her, but Hazel didn't even flinch.

"Why are you trying to hurt us?" Gemma pressed on.

"It's what I'm made for," Hazel said with a blank expression.

"Do you honestly believe that?" Gemma raised an eyebrow.

Hazel scoffed, "Of course not. What idiot would believe _that_?"

Laura shifted uncomfortably until Logan put his arm around her. "Don't listen to her. She's Sabertooth's daughter. That makes her _born_ nuts,"

"That also makes me born as your niece or something doesn't it?" Hazel countered.

"That also means you're my cousin," Gemma piped up.

Hazel looked her up and down. "I could do worse, although your fighting stinks,"

Gemma frowned, "No it doesn't, you're just trained better,"

"It says a lot about exactly how much _teaching_ goes on at your school doesn't it?" Dr Stryker called his favourite jibe from the doorway, flanked by an angry looking Deadpool and a nervous looking Christina.

Christina visibly paled when she saw Hazel, "Please tell me you didn't activate her programming chip?"

Hazel shook her head as she spun around, creating another tornado and spinning over to where Christina stood.

Christina breathed a sigh of relief and Gemma had to study the girl for a few moments. Christina cared about Deadpool. Christina was concerned about Hazel. Was there more to Christina than meets the eye?

"Stryker!" Wolverine unsheathed his claws.

"You shouldn't have made more clones," Laura mimicked her ' dad's ' actions.

"I didn't. Hazel here _is_ Victor's daughter. Such a shame about what happened to him. You know, when _you_ stole his memories," Stryker glanced at Hazel "All of them," and then smiled as pain flashed through Hazel's eyes before turning to anger.

"Oh no," Gemma's face became pain stricken. "We-we-we took your dad from you?"

Hazel tossed her hair over her shoulder, "Nothing I haven't been taught to expect,"

Gemma glared at Stryker, "You took an innocent baby and turned her in a monster,"

Hazel blinked at Gemma, "Excuse _you_?"

Gemma blushed furiously, "Um, I-I didn't mean it like that, I-"

"Yeah _whatever_. Look I might have an adamantium skeleton and super powers but that doesn't make me any less of a monster than _Uncle Logan_," Hazel spat the name out as if it tasted foul in her mouth. "My dad might've been a jerk to you guys but he made damn well sure _I_ wasn't turned into a mindless killing machine,"

Surprisingly, she didn't stare at Laura when she said killing machine, which made Gemma think this girl was an even bigger mystery. She hated Logan but accepted Laura? Who had just threatened to kill her moments ago? And she loved Sabertooth, was friends with Christina and obeyed Stryker but only to a point? Could they bring her over to their side?

"Hazel, we can help you get your father back. We can recreate the memories of you that he lost," Gemma suggested.

"But take away the ones that make him dislike you? Yeah I think I'll pass," Hazel tossed her hair over her shoulder again, although no one could say for sure when it had fell back over her shoulder in the first place.

"No we wouldn't-" Gemma paused herself. _Would they_?

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Hazel rolled her eyes.

"You do know he tried to kill my ex-girlfriend right?" Piotr spoke up darkly.

Hazel's confused gaze flicked to him. "What?"

"Hazel they're lying-" Stryker tried to lie to her, but Piotr cut him off.

"And he brought Gemma and Johnny to Stryker to be tested on before we took his memories. He wouldn't have had them taken if he hadn't been trying to steal Logan's," Piotr continued.

Hazel narrowed her eyes at him, "You're lying," she said bluntly, but there was less conviction than there should've been in her voice.

"And Christina and Deadpool brought Gemma and the Fantastic Four here for experimentation. Which means Stryker could just replace your dad without a second thought," Scott pointed out.

"And Stryker was probably going to use _you_ to replace your dad. After all, you've got his nail powers, healing factor, and you've even got the skeleton your father could never have," Jean backed him up.

"Liars," Hazel insisted in an I-don't-believe-you-singsong-voice.

"Hazel, your father was a bad man. These are bad people. We're not like them. We can help you," Gemma tried to assure her, taking a step forward.

Hazel raised an eyebrow, "Help me do what? In case you haven't noticed I seem to be doing pretty fine on my own,"

"Yeah, being controlled by Stryker is a real accomplishment," Bobby snorted, but stopped when Hazel's ice cold gaze locked onto him.

Hazel cast a glance at Stryker and then turned back to Bobby with a mocking look, "You honestly think _they_ control me? I can walk away whenever. No questions asked apart from 'Get me a drink if you're going into town'"

"That's only _going into town_ though," Bobby used Hazel's words against her.

"I'm about to go to town on _you_ if you don't stop telling me I'm defenceless," Hazel retorted.

"Why is it that new people don't like you? I don't like you, Lindsay didn't like you, Hazel here obviously doesn't like you," Abbie rattled off.

"I swear to God you're Jean's daughter," Bobby insisted.

"Why are you just letting us talk?" Gemma asked Stryker and his minions suspiciously.

"Because as we speak weapon X robotic agents are converging on this warehouse," Christina blurted, earning her an angry look from Deadpool and Styrker, which earned them an angrier look from Hazel.

"What did you tell them that for?" Deadpool demanded.

"I-I-I dunno," Christina flinched and mumbled back.

"How many agents are we talking?" Wolverine quizzed.

Christina opened her mouth to answer but Hazel shook her head and pulled her away from the now furious looking Stryker and Deadpool. Hazel glanced at them, "What are you going to do with these guys?"

"Oh now you care? You were beating us up not five minutes ago!" Bobby reminded her.

"Because I thought you were attacking my home," Hazel countered then turned back to her two male companions. "Well?"

Stryker regarded her calmly and said, "That has not yet been decided,"

"Specifically, what about X-23?" Hazel asked with a glint of challenge in her eyes.

"She'll resume her training," Stryker replied cautiously.

Hazel nodded at him, "Sounds about right. While you decide what to do with the rest of them I'm gonna go for a walk okay?"

Stryker nodded back at her, "Don't stray too far. You have your _own_ training in half an hour,"

Hazel flinched so quickly if you blinked then you'd miss it before her expression returned to normal, but Laura noticed, "Of course. I just need to go get something before I leave,"

Hazel sped off down the hallway and returned to the group with her hands behind her back just as an alarm sounded.

'_System error. Reboot in process. Please move to your nearest exit while reboot is complete. ORDERS: Complete evacuation until systems are repaired,' the facility's computer system sounded over the intercom._

"Welcome back present," Hazel tossed a huge chunk of metal and wires at Laura who caught it reflexively.

"The mainframe!" Stryker exploded with anger as he lunged for Hazel, who easily zipped out of the way.

"You guys have about ten minutes to get out of here before this place becomes swarmed with Weapon X agents. Oh, and all the Weapon X experiments have been released. As for me, I'll be vacationing in Siberia for the foreseeable future," Hazel informed, taking Christina's arm. "Feel like hunting down an angry amnesiac with bone claws?"

"You mean your dad?" Christina asked.

"That's what I said," Hazel grinned at her.

"Beats going to jail," Christina glanced nervously at Gemma. "Wade?"

"Are you nuts? We have to stop them from escaping!" Deadpool insisted.

Christina's face fell, "Right. You do that,"

"And we'll do this," Hazel saluted them all before speeding out of the facility, only to reappear beside Piotr seconds later without Christina. "You're from Russia so you're fine in cold temperatures right? Look me up if you're ever in Siberia,"

With a wink at Piotr and a wave at Laura, Hazel ran off again.

Piotr blushed as Bobby snorted, "Beating the girls off with a stick huh Pete?"

"Save the jokes for later, we need to get out of here," Emma incepted the banter that was sure to come as she strode towards the window. "May the country club have mercy on me,"

With that,_ the_ Emma Frost jumped out of the broken window. "Well hurry up!"

"You heard the lady, everybody out," Wolverine called to the other X-Men, who quickly followed his orders.

"Not so fast," Deadpool jumped in front of Logan. "You're not getting away _again_,"

"Yeah good luck with that theory," Gemma gave a small hand gesture in Deadpool's direction and he went flying into the wall. She glanced at Stryker, "Wanna try your luck?"

Before he could answer, Laura took a step toward him and snarled, "His luck has just run out,"

"Nooooooo it hasn't," Gemma lifted Laura out of the window while saying, "I'm not being related to a murderer,"

Stryker scoffed, "You might re-think that statement if you knew what happened to Laura's mother. And even so, is your father not _Wolverine_?"

"I choose to pretend I didn't hear that!" Gemma called over her shoulder as she pulled Wolverine out of the window after her. "We need to get the other Weapon X experiments,"

"No need. I believe Hazel has already rounded them up and took off . . . . with our jet," Emma's expression was a mixture of annoyance and acceptance.

"So how the heck are we getting home?" Bobby folded his arms.

"Simple, you're not," Stryker called evilly from where he stood, backed by hundreds of robotic agents that had suddenly – and in his opinion _finally_ – appeared.

"Sure we are. We could walk, catch a bus, call a number of taxis, or my personal favourite," Gemma paused as they disappeared from Harlem and reappeared outside of the X-Mansion. "Teleporting. Now if you'll excuse me . . . . ,"

Gemma dropped to the floor from power exhaustion.

Bobby picked her up into his arms and said with a sigh, "Let's get her inside,"

* * *

_**A few hours later, X-Mansion Exterior.**_

After Sue had flown back to the Baxter building to get the Fantasticar and Emma had given the MRD an anonymous tip that a certain group of scientists were trying to create 'Super Mutants', the fantastic four, Spiderman and several of the X-Men stood outside of the X-Mansion, saying their goodbyes.

"Sorry our whole 'get-our-friends-to-meet-and-like-each-other' plan was cut short Peter," Kitty smiled sheepishly at she hugged her boyfriend goodbye.

"Just another thing MJ and Gwen'll have to get used to now that we're dating and they know I'm Spiderman," Peter shrugged as he prepared to web-sling his way back home.

"Try again tomorrow?" Kitty suggested.

"It's a date Kit Kat," Peter assured her as he kissed her and then swung out of the mansion grounds.

Kitty swooned and fanned herself as she went to stand by Bobby, "Isn't he just . . . . just the most awesome, cute, sensitive boyfriend ever?"

"Yeah, _the cutest_," Bobby rolled his eyes, which were actually trained on his girlfriend and her ex-boyfriend, who were currently saying their goodbyes.

"Oh don't be such a downer Bobby," Kitty pushed his arm jokingly as she leaned next to Bobby against the waist-high stone wall that framed the steps into the mansion. "Gemma's just saying goodbye. It's not like she's gonna randomly kiss Johnny just because they were held in the same psychotic facility . . . . er, again,"

"It's not _her_ kissing _him_ that I'm worried about," Bobby ground his teeth together.

"Don't grind your teeth it sounds horrible," Kitty scolded, then she smiled, "Besides, Logan, Emma, Ororo and Hank are over there saying goodbye to Sue, Reed and Ben. If the flame brain makes a move, Wolverine'll skewer him,"

Bobby grinned at her, "Aw thanks Kitty. That's such a sweet thing for you to say,"

Kitty laughed, "Anytime. Just not right now because I'm gonna go take a shower. I swear I the feel of that place is stuck to me,"

Bobby mirrored her laugh as she gave a shudder and walked into the X-Mansion. Then his gaze went back to Gemma and Johnny.

"So, I guess this is goodbye for good huh?" Johnny made no attempt to hide the sadness in his voice, which annoyed Bobby incredibly since he knew Johnny was going for the puppy dog plea.

"Again," Gemma rolled her eyes, which made a grin explode onto Bobby's face, which quickly faded when Gemma flicked him a raised eyebrow look that clearly said 'Do seriously you think spying on me's gonna do you any favours?'

Bobby averted his eyes guiltily, but was happy to hear Gemma's voice in his head say, _**'You do know if he tried to kiss me my dad wouldn't be over here fast enough to skewer even a tiny shred of his remains, right?'**_

'_**Yeah, but it helps if your keep reminding me,' **_Bobby grinned hesitantly.

'_**It helps **_**me**_** if you act like you trust me to be around my ex,' **_Gemma put her hand on her hip, making Johnny turn to look at Bobby as well.

'_**Okay, okay I'm going. And I'm sorry, it's just . . . . ,' **_Bobby trailed off trying to find the words.

'_**It's just hard dating a girl whose ex boyfriend is a womanizer who seems as if he can get any girl he wants?' **_Gemma offered.

'_**Did you have to put it that way?' **_Bobby groaned.

Gemma smirked,_** "No, but I think you're forgetting who broke up with who,'**_

'_**Oh sure, it looked that way but how do I really know?' **_Bobby teased.

'_**Because you were there when I broke down?' **_Gemma raised an accusing eyebrow.

'_**Okay, sorry, sorry. **_**Again**_**,' **_Bobby sighed.

'_**Don't sweat it. But don't spy either,' **_Gemma's raised eyebrow went from accusatory to mocking.

'_**Alright, message received. I'm going,' **_Bobby replied defeatedly as he headed back into the house.

'_**And no spying from the window!' **_Gemma giggled.

Bobby turned around before closing the door, giving her a cocky grin,_** 'Would I?'**_

"Um, are you two finished talking telepathically now?" Johnny brought her back to their conversation.

Gemma blinked at him, "Oh! Sorry about that!"

Johnny nodded through gritted teeth at what he and Gemma had once shared, "Look, I know you don't want me as a boyfriend anymore, but how about just a friend?"

"I'll consider it," Gemma held her hand out to Johnny.

Johnny smiled and shook it, "It's the best offer since we broke up,"

"Yeah, let's just not talk about that," Gemma took her hand back and smiled awkwardly and guardedly.

Johnny nodded, mirrored her awkward smile minus the guarded part and then walked over to his seat in the fantasticar, waving as he closed the door.

Gemma waved back and then spun on her heal to face the window, tapping her foot in annoyance, "Bobbyyyyyyyyyyyy! I saw that curtain waver!"

The curtain moved as if someone had just rushed from it and Gemma ran into the house shouting, "I'm sooooooooo gonna get you, you creeper!"

Ororo smiled at the angry blonde for a moment before turning back to Sue and hugging her, "Once again, it is nice to see you Sue,"

"And once again it's under extreme circumstances. How about we meet for coffee next week instead of waiting until one of us gets attacked?" Sue grinned as she pulled out of the hug and got into the fantasticar.

"Sounds suspiciously normal," Ororo laughed.

"Wishful thinking," Sue winked as Reed began to fly the car out of the X-Mansion's driveway.

"So, who would like to come inside for dinner?" Beast asked.

"I for one am famished," Ororo beamed at him.

"We'll be there in a moment Hank, I need to talk to Emma," Logan told him.

"Well, you don't have to rush. It'll take me at least twenty minutes to cook something decent up," Hank shrugged as he and Ororo walked arm in arm inside the house.

"I'm sure anything you cook up will be just fine Hank," Ororo insisted as they closed the door.

"I thought people in relationships weren't supposed to lie to each other," Emma joked good naturedly before looking at Wolverine. "So Logan, what is it you need to talk to me about? And why does it have to be out here in the freezing cold?"

"Maybe you should wear something that's more suited to cold weather," Logan smirked.

"You say that so convincingly it's as if you actually mean for me to do so," Emma grinned. "Now, before the rest of my body turns as blue as my eyes, what is it?"

* * *

**And I'm leaving it there. So sorry for the slow update you guys, I just had a major case of writer's block. Hopefully the excessively long chapter makes up for some of it :^) And once again, thanks Cissa! :^)**


	13. Stutter

**Gemma Logan 2: The Problems Of Mutant Teenagers**

**Chapter 13: Stutter**

**Inspired by 'Stutter' by Maroon 5**

_**If you don't know the drill by now about the different types of speaking please refer back to previous chapters. :^)**_

_**I own nothing but my OC's (Once again, refer to previous chapters if unsure)**_

_**8:30pm, X-Mansion Exterior.**_

Emma grinned, "Now, before the rest of my body turns as blue as my eyes, what is it?"

Logan stared at Emma, debating whether he was making the right decision now that she was actually in front of him, waiting to tell her the thing he'd spent weeks thinking about. Would it endanger her? Would it make life between her and Jean and Gemma even more hostile? Would she laugh at him? Sneer? Run off to laugh about it with the others? What would she do? What would she _say_?

"Logan?" Emma's grin slowly faded as the silence between them stretched and she repeated, "What is it?"

Logan opened his mouth, closed it and completely forgot how he'd planned to do this.

Emma's expression turned concerned, "Is it something bad? Is it something about you or . . . . us?"

Logan blinked rapidly. She didn't think he was trying to break up with her did she?

His previous plans forgotten, Logan dropped to one knee, pulled out a small pale blue box and watched as Emma's expression turned from concerned to confused to . . . . even more confused. Although it wasn't the most encouraging response, Logan powered through, "Emma, I know we haven't been together that long and that I really didn't like you when you first joined the team-"

"Likewise," Emma interrupted. Yes, this was the woman he loved, a woman who corrected him during the middle of a proposal. _Wasn't love grand?_

"Right," Logan continued, hoping for no more interruptions but expecting at least _a few_ more. "Anyway, despite all that, well, we're here aren't we? Despite all the Hellfire Club lies and the Jean and Scott mess-"

"You probably shouldn't go into too must detail with that," Emma interrupted _again_.

"_Right_," Logan tried to keep the annoyance out of his tone. This was supposed to be a moment of happiness for them, not a moment where he had to fight not to shout at her. "Anyhow, regardless of all of that, we've managed to find some shred of happiness together through all the fighting and world saving, or at least I have-"

"I've rarely been happier," Emma cut in for the _third_ time, although Logan let it slide since she was telling him he'd made her happier than she'd ever been . . . . er, mostly.

"Good to know," Logan almost couldn't keep from sighing at the constant commentary, but the soft smile on Emma's face helped him to stifle it. "I just wanted to tell you that I've honestly never felt this way about someone before, especially someone so infuriatingly argumentative, annoyingly intuitive, motherly yet cold, kind yet cruel, and an oddly friendly, bitchy way of dealing with people-"

"Get to the point," Emma folded her arms at the insulting compliments.

"Oh for heaven's sake! Emma G Frost, you proposal interrupting, exasperating woman! Will you marry me?" Logan threw his hands up incredulously.

"Fine," Emma pulled him up and kissed him passionately yet sweetly, making Wolverine forget anything else he might have wanted to say. "But after that last comment that ring had better have a damn huge rock,"

_**9pm, X-Mansion Living Room.**_

After chasing Bobby around the house some before finally catching up to and tackling him to the ground, Gemma had forgiven the ice pick for spying on her and they were now both curled up on the couch, watching _Avatar_ and having to listen to A) Abbie teasing Peter about the comment Hazel had made back at the Harlem Weapon X facility and B) Taylor allowing Kitty to complain about Gwen to him, as background noise.

"I swear to God she's plotting to steal Peter from me. You'd have to be blind not to see it. I'm pretty sure the _'eye holes'_ in Peter's mask are just black fabric because she's got him wrapped around her finger and he doesn't even notice it. I mean _gosh!_ She has a boyfriend! Even if he is a mutant hating jerk," Kitty insisted loudly as Taylor nodded sympathetically.

"So Peter, are you gonna go with Storm and Beast in _the Velocity_ tomorrow to get the X-Jet from Siberia? I'm sure Hazel's just dying to see you! And hey, if things between you two work out, you and Gemma will be cousins in law!" Abbie snickered.

"Abbie as I have told you repeatedly, I have no interest in seeing Hazel, the girl I met just several hours ago, ever again. I believe she was only teasing me – as you are now - and has the same view of our 'relationship' as I do," Peter sighed from where he sat next to Forge on one of the two-seater couches that the X-Living Room had to offer.

"Sure didn't _seem_ that way," Abbie continued to mock him.

"Appearances can be deceiving," Peter said simply.

"Yeah, anyone who'd never talked Abbie might look at her and think she was a decent person," Bobby stuck up for Peter from his place next to Gemma.

"Yeah, and anyone who'd never talked to you might think you had at least half a brain," Abbie sniped.

"And that's my cue to leave. Have fun bickering," Gemma disentangled herself from Bobby's arms and strode across the room to the door.

"Aw c'mon Gemma, you know we're just kidding," Bobby tried to tell his girlfriend, even though the fact that she was already half way across the room was quite a clear sign that it was a pointless attempt.

"Are you sure _you two_ know that?" Gemma raised an eyebrow at her warring friends, hands on hips as she stood ready to open the door.

"Please, _he_ barely knows _anything_," Abbie sneered, not even bothering to hide her dislike, which annoyed Gemma further considering that it appeared Abbie's sole mission while she was here in the past was to pick a fight with every X-Man she met.

Gemma rolled her eyes before turning her attention from her friends to the door, asking on her way out, "Hey Taylor can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Um, sure," Taylor shrugged as he began to vacate the couch, at the same time as Kitty said, "Uh, no,"

Gemma gave her a confused look, to which Kitty replied, "Taylor's really helping me vent about Gwen right now,"

"It'll only take a few minutes. Tops," Gemma insisted.

"Okay," Kitty sighed in defeat, folding her arms and trying not to look like a five year old in the huff.

"Be right back Kitty. Then you can tell me all about your Gwen problems," Taylor gave her a spirit lifting grin as he followed Gemma into the hallway and closed the door behind them. "So what's up Gem?"

Gemma smiled and flung herself into Taylor's arms, momentarily forgetting that she was stressing over his newly healed self, "I'm just really glad you're here because I've missed having you around and having a psychic rapport I can rely on. I mean I love the past but I really like not being the only person here who's from the future since I can't tell anyone about the future and I've pretty much stepped into the role of leader of the younger X-Men here and I'm just really, really glad that I have someone who can save _me_ for a change!"

For a few moments Taylor stood speechless before joking, "Okay Gem, you do realise if you have to relying on a guy who's only method of protecting someone is flight and talking to animals, then we have to get back to the future ASAP,"

Gemma laughed through tears of happiness she hadn't known she'd been crying, "Depends on how you define the word _animal_. Some of the people we fight could definitely fit that category,"

"Hey, don't cry Gem. If you cry too much you'll end up sitting alone in a tree. Crazy as it sounds, I've heard that it happens," Taylor jested, once again making Gemma laugh. "And if you wanna talk about the future, I've got some interesting news concerning Amy Bradford,"

Gemma released him from their hug and her expression turned jokingly serious, "And it took you this long to tell me?"

"Well we have been busy lately. What with your kidnapping and Rogue's drunken marriage and Abbie and Bobby trying to kill each other every five seconds . . . "

"Don't remind me," Gemma groaned. "And besides, I already know about all of _that_. What I don't know about is what's been going on back in the future!"

Taylor gave her an 'I know something you don't know' grin and taunted, "Oh, but you told Kitty we'd only be a few minutes, and all the gossip I've got could take a few _hours_. I guess you'll just have to live in wonderment,"

Gemma flung open the door to the living room and shouted in a hurry before quickly reclosing the door, "Sorry Kitty. Borrowing Taylor for the rest of the night. You can have him back later. Byeeee!"

Gemma grabbed Taylor's arm and pulled him towards the kitchen to begin the gossip fest and also to be the first ones to get dinner. "DEE, TAILS! NOW!"

"No problem. I mean I like Kitty, but there's only so much boyfriend drama I can take," Taylor teased light heartedly.

"How dare she? Now about Bobby . . ." Gemma teased back.

"Yes, why _don't_ you tell me all about your romances with none other than Bobby Drake _and_ Johnny Storm? You have some _serious_ details of your own to give," Taylor smirked.

Gemma sighed as they reached the kitchen, "In order to fill you in on all_ that_, you'll need about fifty cups of coffee to keep you awake because this is going to be an _incredibly_ long night. Oh, and you might wanna use the bathroom before I get started . . . and a barf bag during the parts about Johnny Storm. Don't even get me started on him and Christina . . ."

_**9:30pm, X-Mansion Kitchen.**_

"Oh my gosh! He blanked her in front of the whole school?" Gemma exclaimed, almost jumping out of her chair at hearing that her enemy Amy Bradford had been dumped and then blanked by Dwain Funders, Gemma's ex-crush and Amy's boyfriend of two years. "But why? I mean I know Dwain's a nice guy and we originally thought Amy had some kind of mind control over him, but after a while I kinda just accepted they were together because they wanted to be."

"I guess their togetherness wasn't enough to keep Dwain around when Amy talked smack about the saviour of the future," Taylor shrugged, winking at Gemma.

"Me? E-e-everybody calls _me_ the saviour of the future?" Gemma asked in a confused tone. "And more importantly, _Dwain Funders_ broke up with _Amy Bradford_ for trash talking _me_? I don't know whether to be flattered or to insist it's no big deal because I _completely_ stopped crushing on him ages ago,"

Taylor raised an eyebrow, "Oh _please_. Like anyone who's crushed on _Dwain Funders_ has ever _completely_ stopped. I'm not ashamed to say I'm still a bit under his spell myself,"

"But I thought you were dating Andrew Cain when I left?" Gemma took another sip of her coffee.

"Nah, he switched teams when he switched schools," Taylor looked away dejectedly, apparently still dwelling on his break up.

"Well he doesn't deserve you anyway," Gemma comforted her friend before musing, "Although I did always think he picked wayyy too many of the 'hot' girls for his team in gym,"

"And I did always _insist_ Dwain had a thing for you," Taylor countered good naturedly.

"Oh _please_," Gemma echoed Taylor's previous words. "Standing up to Amy Bradford for me doesn't mean he likes me. You've done it plenty of times," Gemma narrowed her eyes jokingly, "Unless of course you've been lying to me about being gay,"

"Please tell me that lame joke is a result of the caffeine buzz," Taylor smirked, making Gemma fake gasp and hold her coffee mug precariously over his head. "Spill that on me and I'll tell a gang of rabid chipmunks to attack you,"

Gemma stuck her tongue out childishly, further proof that she'd been drinking too much caffeine.

"Dinner's ready!" Beast bellowed to the other residents of the mansion, nearly splitting Taylor and Gemma's ear drums, considering he was standing about a metre away from them at the top of the dining table whilst placing the last piece of cutlery down next to a placemat.

"Hey do you think dinner might be ready?" Taylor joked, taking his hands away from his ears where he'd thrown them moments ago in a desperate attempt to save his hearing.

Gemma was about to reply when the others came streaming into the kitchen/dining room, most with hungry expressions on their faces, aside from Emma, Logan, Forge and Jean. Forge had apparently been playing devil's advocate for Kitty in Taylor's absence, which was evident by the dirty look her shot him.

On the other hand, Emma looked pleased, Logan looked happy but annoyed, and Jean looked like it was taking every ounce of strength she had not to say something rude to either one of them.

"What's wrong Jean?" Kitty looked generally worried as she shot the three afore mentioned adults' nervous looks.

"Maybe she had to listen to you whine for an hour," Forge muttered as he began stuffing his face, earning him a filthy look from Kitty.

"Yeah, you look like someone shoved that stick even further up your-" Gemma, ignoring them, began before Bobby sat next to her and put his hand over her mouth.

"You're saying _unpleasant_ things out loud again," he told her, removing his hand to shovel unnatural amounts of food onto his plate. Or natural for Bobby, depending on how you looked at it.

"Oh darn." Gemma deadpanned, making the death glare Jean was sending her intensify.

"Jean?" Scott drew the red head's fiery gaze away from Gemma, her eyes softening instantly as she looked into Scott's. "_Is_ there something wrong?"

"No," Jean shrugged seemingly innocently, before adding venom to her voice as she turned to Emma and Logan, saying, "I just think it's time _they_ shared their big news with us,"

Logan cast her a surprised look while Emma just rolled her eyes and muttered to her new fiancé, "You really need better psychic defences," Her eyes burned a hole into Jean's head "Or better taste,"

"Oh there's no doubt he needs better taste," Jean tried and mostly failed to keep the sneer out of her voice. "I thought you would've guess that the second you looked in the hall mirror,"

"Unlike _you _Jean, I don't check my reflection every time I enter the house," Emma retorted. "But do tell me; is it attackers or ugliness that you're checking up on these days? There's certainly no shortage of either one,"

The other inhabitants of the table glanced uneasily at each other before Hank, trying to ease the tension, asked, "So what's this I hear about big news?"

Emma and Logan exchanged fleeting looks whereas Jean kept her look of half smug, half contempt and fully trained on the rest of the X-Men, waiting for their reactions.

"Do you want to tell them or should I? Since _someone _can't keep her nose out of other people's business," Emma speared Jean with a look so filled with annoyance that the redhead had to fight not to wince.

"Hey, I wonder if mom's expecting me," Gemma whispered to Bobby.

"In any other context saying that would seem completely normal," Bobby shook his head both teasingly and as a reply.

"Do we really have to tell them n-" Logan started to say before Jean cut him off.

"Oh spit it out," Jean grunted, regaining her confidence when Gemma turned to look at Logan instead.

The blond took a deep breath and then told them the news, trying not to let Jean's grumpiness ruin a moment she'd been thinking about for a while now but had never dared to slip a hint to Logan, "We're getting married,"

Everyone sat stunned for I few seconds, unsure of what to do or say before Ororo broke the silence by saying, "_Finally_," before pushing back her chair and going to hug the blonde who had replaced Jean as her best friend for a fair few months now.

After that, everyone got up from their dinners – much to Hank's chagrin considering how hard he'd worked to prepare them, although to his credit he tried not to show how peeved he was by the X-Men's current disregard for his culinary skills – to offer their opinions on the subject.

"I did think it was a little early for me," Gemma grinned as she wrapped one arm around each of her parents. "But not too early for this,"

"Congratulations Logan. Marriage is a big step," Scott smiled guardedly as he gazed momentarily at Jean from the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, here's hoping you don't jilt each other at the altar," Jean muttered almost inaudibly from her chair, although apparently it was still loud enough for a certain telekinetic to hear and see fit to make Jean's chair topple over. "Umph!"

"Oops, must be having a power surge," Gemma shrugged innocently as Scott went to help his girlfriend up off of the floor.

Jean glared at Gemma and sent a piece of pizza flying her way, only to have it frozen in mid air and then smash down onto the table, sending shards of salami filled ice all over the kitchen floor.

"Wow, me too," Bobby smirked, effectively taking credit for ruining Jean's attempt at mucking up his girlfriend, earning him an approving grin and a, "Well how about that," from said blonde.

Ororo, Hank, Peter, Forge and Kitty just rolled their eyes at each other, frankly fed up with Gemma and Jean's bickering which had allegedly come to an end several weeks ago. Evidently not.

"So have you set a date?" Ororo questioned, outright ignoring the feud taking place in front of her.

"No, he only proposed a couple of hours ago," Jean answered before Emma or Logan could even open their mouths, causing Emma to look incredulously over at Jean for a few moments before her expression smoothed into a smile a mother would have when humouring her child, "Thank you Jean for graciously attempting to make my ability to speak redundant. But we have set a date,"

The fact that Emma was lying through her teeth to simply infuriate Jean didn't seem to occur to the redhead, even when Logan whispered to his bride to be, "We have?"

"Yes," Emma nodded only half as convincingly as she would've liked.

After a quick scan through Logan's mind Jean said in a superior tone, "Do tell,"

Gemma glanced at her mother who was busy trying to set the record for the fastest planned wedding in the history of time and answer Jean's question herself, "In about a month isn't it?" She glanced at Taylor and Abbie for support who hastily replied with 'Oh yeah' s and 'Sounds about right'.

"A month?" Logan looked as if someone had just thrown a bucket of ice water over him.

"Having seconds thoughts?" Jean all but sang.

'_**Oh you just invented sadism didn't you?'**_ Gemma spat telepathically, causing Jean's expression to become even more self-satisfied.

"No it just seems like a short amount of time to plan a wedding in," Wolverine quickly answered.

"Nope. Sorry. Future's spoken," Gemma said adamantly.

"Yeah, it's practically written in stone now," Abbie said her first nice thing of the day, causing Bobby to blink rapidly, pretending he thought it was a mirage.

"Well then we'll have to start planning right away-" Ororo started before Hank cut her off.

"Can we please finish eating first?" Hank all but pleaded.

"And maybe get some sleep?" Forge added.

"Yeah, you'd think kidnapping, rescuing and finding yet more family members would earn us at least a couple extra hours of shut eye," Gemma yawned to prove her point.

"They're right. We'll start planning in the morning," Logan finished his meal, next announcing he was going to check the perimeter and then go to bed, the others following suit as their exhaustion set in, leaving Beast to sigh silently in frustration as he felt at the rate his follow housemates were eating, they'd barely be tasting his delicious food.

_**X-Mansion, Logan and Emma's Room. 10:00pm.**_

After attempting to help Ororo clear the plates away before deciding that Beast's incessant mutterings about the X-Men's ungrateful eating habits were simply too much to take, Emma was now finishing getting ready and doing the very thing she'd accused Jean of doing: looking in the mirror.

Emma knew that what Logan had said about checking the perimeter really meant that he'd doing just that, plus a half hour training session or two, so she used the time she had alone to take a good look at herself.

Her hair had grown out since she'd been shattered, and was now closer to her elbows than her shoulders, her making her look younger. Or was it just that she didn't look as threatening and cold as before? While it was true that living with the X-Men had been no picnic, her eyes certainly looked a lot less angry than when she'd been with the hellfire club. And the lines around her face were now from laughter as much as frowning, which was a nice improvement that spoke as much of her somewhat softer personality as it did of her appearance.

And what _was_ that gleam in her eye that had replace her previous anger? Could it be that Emma had lied to Logan when she said she'd rarely been happier? Was this actually the happiest she'd ever been? Besides putting up with Jean, Emma had to admit she had a pretty great life now.

It was at that moment that Emma realised that all was not right in her supposedly near perfect world.

Her breath hitched as she saw something in the shadows of her room, the dim lighting in the room that normally soothed her now seemed as if it could never be bright enough.

Emma now understood that what she had said to Jean earlier hadn't just been an insult. She recognised that sometimes as an X-Man she did need to use mirrors to watch for attackers as well as what she perceived as ugliness.

What Emma was seeing at that moment happened to be both.

Emma put on her best self-righteous expression and smirked at the woman standing behind her in the mirror who could potentially bring an end to her near blissful life.

"Hello Selene,"

**Hey guys, sorry about the long wait. So since I've kind of been neglecting this story I've decided I'm going to update every two weeks, if not sooner, and if I go over the two week limit then I'll post TWO chapters the day after. Plus this week is half term and I have no exams, so hopefully I'll be able to update faster.**

**Hoping to end the extremely long waiting periods,**

**Shadow :^)**


	14. Teardrops

**Gemma Logan 2: The Problems Of Mutant Teenagers**

**Chapter 14: Teardrops**

**Inspired by 'Teardrops' by Black Lace**

_**If you don't know the drill by now about the different types of speaking please refer back to previous chapters. :^)**_

_**I own nothing but my OC's (Once again, refer to previous chapters if unsure)**_

_**X-Mansion, Logan and Emma's Room. 10:00pm.**_

"Emma?" Selene grinned into the mirror with fake surprise and a hint of malice. "I was so shocked when I saw that Stark Enterprise article I almost didn't believe it. So glad to see it was true,"

"I'm sure you've just been _agonizing_ over my death," Emma smiled in mock-sweetness as both women took in the positions of each other and everything around them, cataloguing anything that could possibly be used as a weapon whilst trying to remain nonchalant about it.

"Well of course I was. You are after all the treacherous snake who stole the power of the phoenix for yourself and then carelessly destroyed it, taking your own life in the process," Selene shrugged conversationally, and then continued with more venom, "You could've at least given me the pleasure of killing you myself,"

"No doubt you're here to finish the job now that the opportunity has presented itself once again," Emma regarded her calmly and began to alert the others to her presence when Selene cut her off.

"I'm not the only one who wants you dead Emma," Selene's smile was frighteningly genuine this time.

Emma stopped her psychic alert and turned from the mirror to look Selene in the eye properly. She saw the Black Queen tense as she did this, as if she thought Emma was about to attack her, but Emma simply leaned casually against her dresser as she would if she was talking to someone like Logan or Ororo.

Emma looked Selene up and down before telling her matter of factly, "Sebastian is in the danger room watching Logan right now, Pierce is currently near in Forge's lab since you questioned his ability to take on another cyborg and he now feels he has something to prove, Leland is currently preparing himself to pin Bobby, Taylor, Scott and Hank to the floor of their rooms whilst Sophie, Esme, Celeste, Irma and Phoebe has are psychically blocking me from contacting the others and are ready to mind blast the three other telepaths, weather goddess and wall-phaser that reside in this mansion. Do you really have to go to such incredible lengths to kill me Selene?"

"What if I'm not here to kill you?" Selene asked her, once again using a casual tone.

"The extra muscle would make more sense but the motive is a little less obvious," Emma mirrored her tone. "If you're not here to kill me then what _do_ you want Selene?"

"I want revenge, and you and your new _family_ are going to help me get it,"

"Leave them out of this Selene. You want me dead then kill me, or do you not have the nerve?"

"You are not going to bate me Emma. I want a lot of things, and your death is currently low priority on that list. Firstly, I want power,"

"The phoenix is gone Selene," Emma told her in a bored tone.

"I don't want power over the phoenix, I want power over you. And thanks to my abilities I have it," Selene stepped forward, bringing three girls with her, showing Emma why she'd chosen to stay in the shadows.

Emma gasped as she saw who Selene was holding, her companions, and who one of those companions looked like.

"Tell me something Emma, do you think I have the nerve to kill _her_?" Selene gave Emma a victorious and malevolent grin as she tightened her life energy sucking grip on Gemma's neck. Or at least the neck of _one_ of the Gemma's currently staring at her; but considering the frightened look in this one's eyes and the smug expression of the other Gemma, Emma didn't need to do a brain scan to figure out that the girl Selene was holding was her daughter, and the girl with a vengeful gleam in her eye was one of the Stepford Cuckoos . . . and also her daughter - cloned daughter anyway.

"So which one of you is masquerading as Gemma?" Emma addressed the Cuckoos now. "Well it can't be Celeste, since she's standing beside you, so save me the trouble of probing your minds and tell me. Oh and Selene?" Emma's eyes blazed with fury. "UNHAND MY DAUGHTER!"

Selene wasn't sure, but if Celeste and Phoebe - the Cuckoo Emma had called into question – hadn't sent up a telepathic wave right then and there, it might have been enough to kill her. As it was, the psi-bolt was talking its toll on her, though not to the point that she was willing to let go.

Although Selene had dropped to her knees, still clutching Gemma, she slowly began to rise again with the help of Celeste, while Phoebe prepared to fend off any other attacks Emma may have been planning. The Black Queen tightened her grip on Gemma's throat, making gasp for air and look even drowsier than before.

"_Mind_ your manners or she'll be dead within the next half hour," Selene warned through barred teeth.

Emma put her hands to her head for a moment, giving the impression that she was going continue her assault, but the paleness of Gemma's face and the lifeless form her body was beginning to take on stop her in her tracks. She transformed into her diamond mode and places her hands by her sides, although she could not control the clenching of her fists. "Stop and I'll do whatever you want,"

Selene smiled at the blonde woman's defeat and loosened her grip on Emma, withdrawing her powers long enough for Emma to regain consciousness and then resuming her energy siphoning just enough to keep Gemma restrained. "Now that's better,"

"Just tell me what you want me to do Selene," Emma all but spat before turning to Celeste and Phoebe. "And congratulations girls, you've succeeded in finding an even worse role model than me,"

Celeste momentarily looked ashamed but the expression was only there a fraction of a second, so that if you had blinked at that point you would have missed it.

Nobody other than those without the ability to blink blinked.

"That's not how _I_ see it," Phoebe, who had unlike her sister had remained completely devoid of any remorse, glared at Emma.

"Now there's a surprise," Emma muttered, finally scanning her mind to figure out her identity and then saying louder, "You always were dying to get your hands on the phoenix force. Who better for you to idolise than a woman who would do anything it took to possess it?"

Phoebe lifted her head in an arrogant manner, smiling in Selene's direction, who gave her little more than a small nod. In an effort to prove this didn't disappoint her, Phoebe retorted, "I don't idolise her. I just want power-"

"_Like her_," Emma used her words as an emotional strike which had the desired effect of Phoebe's temper flaring.

"I am not like her!" Phoebe growled, her volume increasing at every word.

"Silence!" Selene placed her free hand on Phoebe's shoulder and drained some of the fight out of her. "If you have alerted the X-Men to our presence I promise I will drain every ounce of energy you possess, are we clear?"

Phoebe nodded feebly and Selene removed her hand, although to Emma's astonishment Phoebe didn't look resentful, at least not at _Selene_.

Seeing she had failed in creating a rift between Phoebe and Selene, Emma turned to the Cuckoo who wasn't currently gazing in admiration at the woman plotting murder and destruction. "What about you Celeste? You always feared the consuming powers of the phoenix force, yet now you're exacting revenge because I stopped it from destroying you?"

"We could've controlled it," Phoebe snapped, essentially answering for her sister.

"No you couldn't. You're not strong enough," Emma replied simply.

"Yes we are," Celeste spoke up for the first time since she'd arrived. "Our hive mind is just as strong as yours,"

"I don't believe that," Emma stated plainly.

"You'd better start," Celeste answered shortly, not as a form of bragging but just a straight-forward warning to not underestimate them.

"Enough of your _family bonding_," Selene sneered with a smile and an edge in her voice. "You asked me before what I wanted from you and here is your answer. For the safe return of your exceptionally powerful daughter – the one born to you and that _savage_ Wolverine-" Emma's eyes narrowed and her knuckles turned white with strain at the last word "You will treat Phoebe as you would Gemma and go about your wedding plans as if nothing is wrong. Then on the day of your wedding when you say your _I do's,_ you will leave Wolverine standing at the altar and immediately resume your post as White Queen under my authority. Tell anyone of this and Phoebe will alert me and Gemma will die. Failure to re-join the club with result in Gemma's assumption of the post 'White Pawn' in the Inner Circle, and the five-in-one will use their telepathy to make Logan and the rest of your friends forget who you are. Are we understood?"

Emma could do nothing but stare at her. Selene waited several moments before increasing her draining of Gemma's life force, causing Emma to quickly confirm her compliance, "Understood!"

"Excellent," Selene practically beamed at her. "Celeste, tell the others our work here is done and that we are leaving," Celeste did as she was told and then moved to the window with Selene and Gemma. "See you at the wedding Emma. I hope the commitment you make that day lasts forever,"

With one last horrifying smile, the Celeste switched to her diamond form, picked up Selene and Gemma, and then dropped gracefully out of the window, almost without making any sound.

Emma rushed to the window after them, fully knowing it wouldn't do any good, and watched Selene and the Celeste drag Gemma into the back of a town car before the vehicle took off down the street with a motion so smooth and soundless it was as if it had never been there.

At that point Emma's legs gave out from under her and she knelt with her arms resting on the windowsill, still staring down the street after the car.

'_I will NOT cry,'_ Emma shouted in her mind, wishing now more than ever that her diamond form extended to include her heart, so that she could trap her emotions in a shiny, strong, gemstone box, and not have to feel the incredible pain that was surging through her right now.

What was she going to do? What _could_ she do but follow Selene's instructions? At least if she did as she was told then the others wouldn't get hurt; physically anyway. She could suffer through Selene's imprisonment; she might even be able to sway Sebastian back to her side and eventually be able to see her friends and family again.

That was another thing Emma told herself as Phoebe moved towards the door and with a satisfied smirk in her mother's direction, calling over her shoulder as she exited the room, "I suppose I should go find my room. Anything I need to know to convince the others I'm the real deal _mom_?"

Emma turned her head, anger, sorrow and loathing blazing in her eyes to form the most intense glower that she had ever given, "You will _never_ be able to measure up to _her_. And do _not_ call me _mom_. I only have _two_ daughters, one not from my blood line, and one who you can take the appearance of but _never_ hope to be. Now get out of my sight,"

Phoebe flinched slightly, but held her ground. "Maybe you don't consider me a daughter anymore, but considering the fact that in a few weeks you won't see either of the two people you do consider daughters, I'd be a little nicer to me if I were you -"

"I'm not you remember?" Emma reminded her with a sneer. "You made that explicitly clear with both your words and your actions,"

"Good. So you know where I stand then," Phoebe folded her arms in an attempt to look sure of herself.

"Oh yes," Emma replied with cold eyes. "_Thin ice_,"

Phoebe looked Emma up and down then gave her another smirk. "Then you're right. I'm not like you or one of your _only_ daughters. You said it yourself, I'm cool as ice right now, and you two have your heads barely above all the _hot water_ you're in right now,"

With that little cliché, Phoebe flounced out of the room in search of 'her' room, leaving Emma alone and still staring out of the window.

Emma slowly got to her feet and padded over to her bed. _'I won't cry.'_

To further prove her resolve in this matter, Emma shifted into diamond form, not noticing as she fell into a restless sleep that tiny little diamond were falling off of her pillow and onto the floor.

_**X-Mansion, Logan and Emma's Room. 11:00pm.**_

After using his time in the danger room to think over his fast approaching wedding, Wolverine had decided that apart from possible planning issues, getting married really wasn't that big of a deal to him. Not realising it until Jean had questioned his determination to marry Emma, he now understood that although he was unsure about marriage because of his reluctance to be tied down and tendency to take off, he had already decided that he was going to spend the rest of his life with Emma a long time ago; he just hadn't told her. Logan was beginning to see that he'd had no intention of ever leaving Emma, he just hadn't noticed because the thought of departing from the X-Men again hadn't crossed his mind. At all. In almost a year.

It was as unusual as it was happiness inducing.

So as Logan quietly pushed open the door to his room, he was filled with a pleasant calm, knowing that for once in his life, he was exactly where he wanted to be.

And then he noticed the way Emma was trembling, thrashing around and currently made of diamond.

He quickly rushed to her side, shaking her awake as gently as he could, but calling her name in a panicked tone that couldn't help but contrast with his actions, "Emma! Emma! Emma wake up! What's wrong?"

"Stay away from me you sadistic vampire!" Emma thrust Logan across the room so hard that he slammed into the wall, waking up just in time to see the plaster crack all the way to the ceiling. "Oh, oh my . . . Logan I'm so sorry!"

Emma jumped out of bed and hurried to help him up, although Logan noted she didn't shift out of her diamond form.

"Emma what the hell was that? And what did you call me?" Logan softly batted her hands away as he stood up and looked into her eyes. Or at least he would've if she hadn't been averting her gaze.

"N-n-nothing. It was nothing, just a bad dream," Emma dismissed it as she climbed back into bed and rolled onto her side so that she was facing away from him.

Logan studied her curiously before sitting slowly down in front of her, refusing to believe that although her eyes were shut that she was actually asleep. "Emma, talk to me. I know you're awake, no one falls asleep that fast, at least not in this house. Now what's bothering you?"

"I told you it's nothing," Emma mumbled before turning to face the other way.

She heard Logan sigh and get up as if to move the other side of the bed, so she quickly turned back the other way, only to come face to face with the man she was trying to avoid.

"I'm just as fast as you are," Logan reminded her. "Although apparently I'm slow at other things. Like figuring out what's wrong with my fiancée-"

Emma winced at the word, something that did not go unnoticed, and caused Logan to look confused for a second, and then hurt, although he covered both emotions up hastily, only causing Emma to look even more pained for having upset him.

Logan of course took this as further animosity towards the subject of her becoming his wife, as he stood up. "Then again, maybe I'm getting better at reading emotions. I just read that one loud and clear,"

As Logan began to back up several paces towards the window, Emma speedily rose out of bed and followed him, "Logan, wait. You don't understand,"

"_What_ don't I understand Emma? Seriously if you're having second thoughts then just tell me before I make a fool of myself-" Logan was cut off as Emma wrapped her arms around her neck and kissed him.

They stayed like that until the need for air become too great and they had to pull apart.

"I'm not having second thoughts," Emma breathed as she rested her forehead against Logan's.

She then realised that Phoebe could probably hear everything that Emma was thinking right then, so she swiftly switched out of her diamond form and used her telepathy to block any below the surface thoughts from escaping her brain and entering Phoebe's.

Logan didn't say anything for a moment and it seemed as if he was going to kiss her again, until at the last possible moment he pulled back and turned around, asking, "Then what is it?"

Emma shook her head and turned to the window, "It doesn't matter; it was a bad dream. Basically a nonentity. Why can't you just accept that?"

Once again Logan remained silent, and Emma decided it would be best just to wait it out and give him the space he needed to form the words. Finally after a long time he spoke.

"Emma . . ."

Another pause.

" . . . you called me a sadistic vampire,"

Emma turned around so quickly got a head rush and had to sit down on the windowsill, but not before she insisted, "Logan I wasn't talking about you, you have to believe-"

"It would make sense," Logan interrupted solemnly, which rendered Emma temporarily speechless . . . for about a second.

"Why," Emma paused, trying to understand her fiancé's logic in the process. "Why would it make sense?"

"Well, I _was_ created to be a weapon-" Logan began, but Emma was quick to but in.

"And the phoenix was created to be a Guardian," Emma smiled bitterly although Logan didn't quite know why. Why it because she was still reeling from her resurrection all those months ago? Emma continued before he could ask, "Look how that turned out."

"I can still act like a weapon at times-" Logan was interrupted by Emma again.

"And I can still act like a bitchy narcissist at times. It all depends on situation and emotion," Emma insisted, mentally adding, _'And people.'_

"Emma you're stopping me from finishing my sentences," Logan groaned, growing impatient with his fiancé's constant interruptions.

"And you're underestimating your ability to be a caring father figure. As well as overestimating your abilities as an assassin," Emma gave him a teasing smile, momentarily forgetting her dire situation. "You're getting old Logan,"

Instead of giving Emma the scowl that she expected and actually hoped for, Logan's face turned even more serious than before. "There's another thing. You called me a vampire. In a way marrying me is like having your best years drained away from you while I just stay fixed in time; never aging."

Emma blinked at him before gently but firmly hitting him on the forehead. "Idiot. You honestly think if I didn't spend the rest of my days with you that I _would_ be living the best years of my life?"

Logan opened his mouth to protest but Emma beat him to it, now fully aware again of her situation and speaking from her heart half of the truth she wished Logan knew. "If I were to spend the rest of my life away from you, Gemma, Laura and the other X-Men then that would be far more soul shattering than anything the phoenix ever did to me. If you honestly think I allowed you to put a ring on my finger without being absolutely certain I wanted you to keep it there, then I'm afraid you don't know me very well at all."

Now it was Logan's turn to blink. After a few moments he managed to string some words together in order to form a coherent sentence. "Y-you really think that?"

"Would I say it otherwise?" Emma followed her arms, completely sure of herself. "I don't like being vulnerable Logan, so if I ever put myself in a position where I am, you can be assured that anything said by me at that point will be the truth."

Emma smiled when she realised she'd rendered Wolverine speechless once again; she was going to miss being able to do that. She was going to miss a lot of things – one key thing would be Logan himself.

Before Logan could say anything more about what she had said, Emma turned away from him so that he wouldn't see the tears that began to stream down her face. "Well if you don't mind Logan, I should like to get some sleep before we decide who is going to find Hazel, Lindsay and Sabertooth tomorrow," Emma climbed back into bed and faced away from him, praying to anyone who might be listening that he didn't try to look at her face again.

"O-okay," Logan stuttered, before clearing him throat and saying more firmly, "You're right, we should both get some rest before tomorrow. After all, there's all that preparation for the wedding to start doing."

While this would've made Emma smile in other circumstances since this was Logan's way of saying her had no doubts about her either and he really appreciated her re-assurance, it only served to make Emma sob harder, although she did it quietly so Logan wouldn't catch on to the fact that there was something seriously wrong. Her other response was managing to choke out a small, "Mmm hmm."

She heard Logan climb in to bed next to her and thought that would simply be it; she'd said what she'd needed to say and he'd heard more than he'd ever hoped to hear from her. But just as she was about to fall asleep, she heard Logan murmur, "Emma?"

Pulling herself together enough to make her voice sound mildly normal, Emma replied, "Yes Logan?"

"I want that ring to stay on your finger forever as well."

Emma had to force herself not to make a strangled sound at both the pain and happiness those 12 small words had made her feel, settling instead for answering, "If it were up to me James, I would never take it off."

She felt Logan smile and wrap an arm around her, before gently falling off to sleep.

Emma's last thought before falling into yet another restless sleep, although less violent than the last one was:

'_If only you knew how much I meant that.'_

**Next chapter as promised, and I hope it wasn't too depressing.**

**Chapter 15: Phoebe tries to pull off a convincing performance as Gemma with a reluctant Emma helping her. But what happens when Bobby starts noticing something off about his girlfriend? Will Phoebe be able throw him off the trail, or will she have to change tactics to keep everyone else in the dark? And just where exactly is the Hellfire club keeping Gemma?**


	15. What It's Like To Be Me

**Gemma Logan 2: The Problems Of Mutant Teenagers**

**Chapter 14: What It's Like To Be Gemma**

**Inspired by 'What It's Like To Be Me' by Britney Spears**

_**If you don't know the drill by now about the different types of speaking please refer back to previous chapters. :^)**_

_**I own nothing but my OC's (Once again, refer to previous chapters if unsure)**_

_**X-Mansion, Gemma's Room. 5am.**_

As Phoebe Cuckoo lay in Gemma's bed she had no idea what horrors awaited her in the next half hour. She'd been sleeping peacefully after agreeing with Selene that one of the other Cuckoos should monitor Emma during the night so that Phoebe would be well rested and alert for tomorrow. Celeste had been tasked with the job after her momentary remorse yesterday, as Selene felt she should weed out any possibility that the girl would stop obeying her. Phoebe didn't care as long as she got some rest, provided that Selene didn't make her sister work too hard; after all, she was the one who had to spend time with her infuriating mother, these insidious freaks _and_ pretend to be the overly perky do-gooder that was Gemma Logan. In Phoebe's opinion that in itself was the worst punishment on earth. What she did realised was that Gemma had certain duties to attend to at the manor . . .

"Gemma! Bad news, Logan's re-instigating the early morning training sessions in case we have to battle Hazel again. You could try giving him the puppy dog pout but I doubt even _that_ would work on him today. You'd think the guy would be a lot happier now that he's getting married but I guess when you're marrying Emma Frost . . . no offence-" Bobby began to do what Phoebe quickly dubbed as blathering on before he had Gemma's bedroom door yanked open and the angry face of who he thought was his girlfriend glaring at him with the fury only a sleep deprived teenager scorned can pull off.

"Would you _stop_ that incessant yammering?" Phoebe growled as she angrily rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with one hand and hefted a curtain pole – which she'd ripped off the wall a second earlier in diamond form in her search for a decent weapon – threateningly in the other.

Bobby blinked at her but dismissed her homicidal crankiness as the aftermath of being woken up at five in the morning. "Gee, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

"It wouldn't have mattered what side of the bed I was on, I'd still be able to hear your relentless prattling," Phoebe retorted sharply, still not putting down the curtain pole.

"Okay Gemma I know you're tired but now you're just being needlessly hurtful," Bobby folded his arms. "Either that or you've been spending too much time with Laura."

"Laura?" Phoebe asked curiously, not recognising the name and quickly sifting through the memories of the boy in front of her so that she could determine their relationship and the identity of the one he called 'Laura'. She mentally rolled her eyes and wished that Selene had briefed her more thoroughly on Gemma's attachments to these annoying X-Men.

After a quick sort through Bobby's memory, only one though came to mind for Phoebe. '_Oh gosh . . . I have to pretend to date _this _idiot?'_

"Yes Laura," Bobby gave her a strange look for a moment before continuing the conversation as he normally would. "Also known as the girl who tried to chop me into teeny tiny pieces a few minutes ago for disturbing her beauty sleep," Bobby put air-quotes around the word 'beauty'.

"Pity she didn't finish the job," Phoebe muttered, and then to avoid another strange look she flashed Bobby a dazzling smile, making Bobby blink at her for an entirely different reason.

'_Wow? Is my smile really that . . . oh. It's _her_ smile.'_ Phoebe thought, mentally scolding herself for being so naive. She supposed she'd feel a lot of mistaken identity on other peoples' part by the time Selene pulled off her scheme. It was going to be one heck of a long month.

"W-we should probably go before Logan starts searching for us," Bobby stuttered, coughing to get his voice back to normal and then slinging an arm around Phoebe's shoulders , saying more confidently, "You know what your dad's like, it's better to show up at stupid o clock in the morning than to have him find you after _not_ showing up at stupid o clock in the morning."

"We could take him. Or at least I could, you on the other hand . . ." Phoebe trailed off uncertainly. Would this buffoon be better in battle than he was in wake up calls?

It didn't matter that she hadn't been joking, Bobby laughed anyway thinking they were just having their usual banter and messed up her hair. "You were saying?"

Phoebe smoothed out her hair and then regarded him with a smirk, "That you couldn't beat my dad in a fight. How does you ruffling my already messy bed head disprove this?"

"It doesn't. It just makes you look stupid." Bobby grinned good-naturedly at her.

"I looked stupid the moment you put your arm around me." Phoebe raised a smug eyebrow at him, causing Bobby to half smile, half frown back at her.

" Somebody's got their game face on early." He commented, the joking tone nearly all the way gone from his voice.

Phoebe panicked at his no longer easy going speech, resorting to blushing in fake embarrassment whilst running one hand through her messy hair sheepishly as if she were trying to tame it before pretending to cover her 'shame' with a jokey remark, "Well, being woken up at five in the morning will do that to you. I was planning on getting up in the daylight hours you know."

Bobby beamed devilishly at her, and Phoebe instantly knew she'd smoothed everything over when he said casually, "Daylight huh? Well why didn't you say so?"

They'd been walking past a window down to the danger room, a window which Bobby promptly pulled the curtains back from, allowing the light of the rising sun to nearly blind Phoebe.

Phoebe threw her arms up over not just her eyes, but her whole face as she was fuming and felt the need to hide it. After taking moment to compose herself – it was particularly difficult since Bobby's laughter was infuriating her still – Phoebe removed her arms from her face, checked what floor they were on, and then smiled sweetly at Bobby. Too sweetly.

"What a funny joke Bobby, you really got me," Phoebe in a voice so syrupy that surely Bobby had to know she was faking it. Although if her intonation didn't tip him off, the fact that she quickly disabled the lock and pushed him out of the first story window should've been a bit of a giveaway. "And now the rose bushes have you. Have fun picking thorns out of your butt."

She couldn't help but giggle at the shock but admiring look on Bobby's face as she walked to the bathroom to get ready for training. What was surprising to her though, was she wasn't laughing at her own malevolence and Bobby's misfortune; she was laughing because interacting with the boy who she stilled viewed at a hopeless moron was actually . . . fun.

The only people her age that Phoebe had ever spoken to had been her sisters, and there wasn't much time for sisterly bonding while you were all preparing to contain and the wield the phoenix. Before now Phoebe hadn't given much thought to meeting and possibly befriending people her age, she'd never experienced it so she hadn't given the subject much thought. But anyway, if she were to make friends like a regular girl, she was determined to find better candidates than Gemma's moronic boyfriend.

Phoebe pondered how she would find said candidates as she went back to her room to pick through Gemma's clothes for something decent to wear. After a few flicks through the wardrobe and chest of drawers that occupied her bedroom, Phoebe had located one of Gemma's uniforms and decided that she didn't want to wear any of Gemma's clothes, so she decided to just change her appearance to what she preferred: a red hair band, red t-shirt with a golden Oriole on it, a golden/sandy mini skirt and red Vans with gold accents, translating the phoenix uniform into casual wear, just to annoy Emma.

After getting showering and changing into what she called 'the tacky spandex abomination', Phoebe made her way to the danger room to see what kind of work out programme the X-Men used; after all it might be useful to know some of their training techniques, then she could share them with Selene and her sisters so they would know how to best fight the 'yellow and blue clad fashion disasters'.

As she walked into the huge metal room, Phoebe couldn't help but look in awe at the size of it. After marvelling for about two seconds, she took in the fact that the other X-Men had beat her to the danger room and that her 'father' looked slightly ticked.

"Gemma you're twenty minutes late," Logan stated simply.

"Are you sure you're not all just twenty minutes early? Or five hours early?" Phoebe attempted humour for her first sentence and then began sarcastically serious for her last.

"Probably not best to talk back right now," Kitty whispered to her.

"Why? He's getting married. Shouldn't that make him all lovey-dovey and happy?" Phoebe asked as if this was obvious.

"I don't think he got much sleep last night," Kitty whispered back. "I heard Emma's nightmares all the way down the hall, who knows what it must've been like up close and personal?"

"Um, him?" Phoebe shrugged in the same tone as before. She could tell she wasn't going to like this girl. "And why are you whispering? He's got super hearing remember?"

Kitty blushed and smiled sheepishly in Logan's direction, who just rolled his eyes and started the session. "Okay everybody pick pairs, we're doing basic combat today. You can choose your own partner but try to pick someone who's in your league so we don't have unfair fights."

"What do you say _mom_? Think you're in my league?" Phoebe sauntered up to Emma in a challenging tone that barely managed to sound even remotely joking.

Emma smiled fiercely as she moved from Logan's side, seizing the chance to tear Phoebe a new one whilst playing it as an accident of battle. "Oh sweetheart, you know very well that you and I aren't in the same league."

To anyone but Phoebe, that would sound like Emma recognising her _Gemma_ was a more powerful telepath than her. To Phoebe, it sounded like bait, which Phoebe took as she squared off against her mother and sent what she thought was a crippling blast towards Emma, who batted it away like a fly.

Phoebe blinked in confusion and barely disguised anger, before insisting, "Just warming up."

"Of course you are dear." Emma smiled condescendingly, not realising that their interaction was drawing quite a bit of attention from the other X-Men.

"Uh, are you two feeling okay? You seem a bit snappy today." Forge questioned hesitantly, not wanting to anger them further.

"Lack of sleep," Logan, Emma, Phoebe and Bobby replied shortly, the two couples locking eyes after realising they had spoken simultaneously; Emma gave Logan an apologetic smile; Logan gave her shrug that said not to worry about since he was more worried about her than his sleeping patterns in response; Phoebe smirked at Bobby, who gave her an eye-roll whilst smiling at the same time. Phoebe had a feeling he did that a lot.

"Er, okay," Forge said to break the private moments between the two couples so that everyone else could stop feeling somewhat awkward since they didn't know exactly what was going through the other four's heads.

"Right, everyone else pair off," Logan drew his eyes away from his fiancé and continued the session.

"Yeah, the sooner we finish the sooner you can get some sleep and be _nicer_," Bobby whispered teasingly to Phoebe.

Phoebe grinned mischievously at another chance to taunt her 'boyfriend', since it was proving to be one of her favourite activities here at the institute. "The sooner we finish, the sooner you can put on an outfit with sleeves so people don't think you've got chicken pox. You'd think _Ice_man would've tended to those thorn bush spots by now."

Bobby frowned curiously at her, as if he wouldn't expect her to be so ridiculing. Phoebe barely managed to stop herself from paling at the prospect of blowing her cover already.

"Excuse me Bobby but shouldn't you be pairing off now? As much as you like Gemma you're just going to have to accept that she has chosen me as her partner," Emma called from where she stood with her arms folded, an indifferent expression on her face. "You can make time with my daughter later."

Bobby blushed at Emma's last comment before walking swiftly towards Colossus with one last look in Phoebe's direction. Phoebe herself tried to glance at Emma with the same indifference but couldn't control the tiny bit of surprise that passed over her features as a reaction to Emma's bail out.

'_**Oh make no mistake,' **_Emma spoke telepathically, her tone as seemingly bored as her expression, Emma's diamond form may not have been as perfect as Phoebe's but she could definitely teach the girl a thing or two about acting uninterested. _**'I did not do that for you. If you mess up this malevolent ruse you've got going then you AND Gemma go down, something I am not willing to let happen. So get it together or send one of your more formidable sisters to do the job for you.'**_

Phoebe blinked. Emma's tone and look many not have been threatening but her words sure packed a callous punch, something Phoebe had to shake off to get past Emma's _own_ act.

'_**I do not take kindly to those who endanger the lives of people I care about.'**_ Emma answered Phoebe's unspoken question. _**'Had you not chosen to side with Selene you mightn't have learnt that the hard way.'**_

"Ready?" Emma questioned, raising one eyebrow in a way that suggested she just wanted to get this over with, a gesture that the other X-Men would mistake for her wanting to actually get some sleep that night, but a motion that Phoebe knew was meant to make her feel as if Emma didn't deem Phoebe worth her time.

Phoebe yawned tiredly on the outside but sent an image of defiance into Emma's mind as she replied, "Sure, you know me. Always up for a-" Phoebe paused as Emma sent a telepathic message into her brain.

'_**Gemma always wants to make peace and help others. Neglect to show that and the X-Men won't buy your sloppy routine for a second.'**_ Emma replied in Phoebe's head as if she were a moron for not knowing that, something that annoyed Phoebe intensely.

Phoebe felt a wave of anger wash over her features for a nano-second before finishing her sentence in an overly happy manner meant to mock Gemma, "Friendly sparring match. Have to improve my skills just in case I come across someone who won't listen to reason. Gosh darn it that would just peel my paint."

Emma snorted cruelly in her head and muttered, _**'Pathetic.'**_

Phoebe was speechless, both mentally and verbally. How could this woman look so calm and cool in the face of someone who was essentially going to destroy her life? It was a trick Phoebe herself had nearly but not quite mastered, and that enraged her more that her mother was still managing to one up her, even when Phoebe was allegedly part of the winning team.

"Let's do this," Phoebe threw a punch at Emma, hoping to take her by surprise with a physical attack instead of a telepathic one.

Emma caught her fist, spun her arm behind her back and pulled, making Phoebe wince as she held back a whimper. Never being one to miss the opportunity to add insult to injury, Emma smiled concernedly, "Looks like your fighting could use a little work."

Phoebe struggled and Emma released her grip, Phoebe shaking her arm free the second she could overpower Emma's hold.

'_**Great parenting. Manhandling kids, SO humane,'**_ Phoebe growled.

'_**Allowing your kids to beat you up? That's called domestic abuse dear, and since you're 18 years old, just be happy I'm saving you the jail time,'**_ Emma smirked. She was in her element now; Tears, sadness, showing emotion to anyone she didn't hold dear, _that_ was uncharted territory, but Emma was more than fluent in _bitch_.

Phoebe narrowed her eyes as Emma and threw punch after angry punch at her, Emma blocking every one with ease until Phoebe tried to kick her in the knees. A split second before she could, Emma turned to her diamond form and simply waited.

Phoebe's eyes turned to saucers and she bit her lip to keep from screaming profanities – she seriously doubted miss goody-two-shoes had a reputation for doing _that_.

"Whoa, Gem, Em! Use powers, not hand to hand," Logan walked away from where he and Hank had been facing off to break up the fight that Phoebe hadn't thought to conceal, although Emma didn't look phased in the least.

'_**Your mess, your clean up duties.' **_Emma insisted in a motherly fashion that she hadn't actually meant to present.

'_**My mess is your mess, and you're already in a whole mess of trouble; so talk fast or end Gemma's short, short life.'**_ Phoebe would've spat if she hadn't been speaking telepathically.

Emma groaned. Like it or not, Phoebe was right; if she went down then they all did, so Emma was going to have to think up a plan quickly, or face losing the race before she'd even started the car.

Emma sighed as she thought of a lie and began to recite it. She had a feeling this was going to become a regular occurrence. "Sorry Logan, Gemma and I are both feeling a bit unwell. Whether it's lack of sleep or something we ate-"

"She says that as if people actually _ate_ that much last night." Beast grumbled somewhat bitterly, making Ororo put one hand on his shoulder to comfort him and another over her mouth to keep from laughing.

"I think the best thing would be to go lie down, or take some antibiotics-" Emma began as if she'd never been interrupted . . . only to be interrupted.

"Em, Gemma has a healing factor. She doesn't get _sick_." Logan pointed out, giving her a curious look.

'_**Collapse into my arms.' **_Emma demanded sharply.

Phoebe did as she was told but showed Emma an image of her gagging in her mind, responding, _**'It's a good thing I haven't had breakfast yet, otherwise that white uniform of yours would be looking a little more colourful.'**_

Emma ignored that as Phoebe tried to dramatically drops into her arms without it looking fake, "Logan can't you seen the poor girl is tired?"

Logan looked confused and then apologetic for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders and saying, "Okay, I guess this session's over then."

"Woo hoo!" Kitty and Bobby high fived.

"Not for the rest of you." Logan added hastily, watching half a dozen teenage faces fall, and a few adults roll their eyes in annoyance. "You're still here to train."

"Thank you Logan, I'm sure we'll be feeling better soon." Emma smiled, even though she was fighting not to slap herself for lying to the only man she'd ever loved. She gently dragged Phoebe out into the hall by her underarms before depositing her onto the floor brusquely as soon as the danger room door was shut.

Phoebe glared up at her and was about to insult her when Emma stated simply, "This isn't going to work."

Phoebe's glared just intensified as she replied, "Well we're hardly going to have a good mother-daughter relationship over night."

Emma raised her eyebrows. "We will never have a _mother-daughter relationship_, period. Anyway, that's not what I'm talking about. What I mean is you pretending to be Gemma, it isn't going to work. She and I rarely clash and I can't stand to look at you without immense hatred for more than a few seconds, _if that_."

"Oh the feeling is _way_ mutual," Phoebe picked herself up off the ground and folded her arms in a closed off manner while she shot daggers at Emma.

The woman in question stood calm under the supposed pressure of her cloned daughter's gaze and once again spoke bluntly, "If we're going to fool the X-Men then you need to swap with one of your sisters. I dislike all of you right now and probably will the foreseeable future, but there _are_ certain siblings of yours than I could stand more."

"Listen _mother_," Phoebe tried to skewer Emma with her gaze but the best she got was a grimace. "_You_ don't call the shots here!"

"And you do?" Emma cut in sharply.

"No. _Selene_ does. I'm just letting you know you should start making demands of the people holding your daughter hostage!"

"Why does it matter which Cuckoo is pretending to be Gemma? Did you just wanted to get out of Boston, Phoebe? Is that why you're here?"

"I'm here because Selene trusts me the most! Unlike _you_, she doesn't hate me."

"I never claimed to hate you."

"Are you saying I'm wrong?"

Emma paused for a moment, taking the time to really judge how she felt about Phoebe, not realising that her taking her time was only further upsetting the girl. Emma put a finger to her chin in thought. "Well I would be justified, you are all blackmailing me for the safe release of my daughter in exchange for me helping to ruin my own life and become some kind of slave for Selene. But the better question is why do _you_ hate _me_ enough to do all that?"

Phoebe looked at her incredulously, failing to notice that Emma hadn't actually admitted to hating her. "Because you _left_ me! You left _us_!"

"I _died_. 'Leaving' you wasn't intension, but I think you'll find it comes part and parcel with sacrificing myself." Emma said reasonably, almost not understanding why Phoebe was mad that she _left _her, until she realised that she would be too; if Logan died before she did she'd probably curse his name for leaving her alone and heartbroken. It was selfish, but she could sympathise.

While Emma was having this revelation, Phoebe replied, "You may have died, but that doesn't mean it's condonable that you didn't even contact us after you came back to life! Did you even think about mean or the others once?"

"I couldn't contact you without tipping the Hellfire club off-" Emma began but Phoebe was already talking over as if she wasn't even talking.

"I was _so_ happy to hear you were alive again. I thought you'd come and get us away from the Hellfire club, and that we'd all just disappear, but I guess you decided to do the disappearing part yourself. Good thing too, because you did a lousy job of it," Phoebe snapped the last part.

Although Emma's face softened and she began to admit that she had been in the wrong in her own thoughts, Emma still felt she still had something to say, "Phoebe you've spent the past half an hour trying to prove that you're better than me, so why didn't you break yourself free from the Hellfire club? Between you and your sisters taking them out should've been a snap, and you're hardly unable to function in society without me. A further point is why _you_ didn't come after _me_? Here we have five of you girls all apparently longing to leave the Hellfire club and live with me, yet the only one of my daughters who dared do anything about my death was one who hadn't yet been born. Is that what this is about? You didn't rescue me from the afterlife like she did so now you're masquerading as her to make up for it? And also, if you hate the Hellfire club so much, then why are you helping them? If they have something on you then you can rest assured that the only person keeping tabs on you is one of your sisters, so you _can_ tell me. Really Phoebe, does any of what you just said have an ounce of truth or are you just trying to confuse me into believing some sob story so that it increases my pain when this whole thing is over?"

Phoebe swallowed, preparing to answer all of Emma's questions - frankly needing a moment to come up with answers to the ones she hadn't even considered before – but before she could utter a single syllable, the others came out of the danger room, having successfully convinced Logan to give them a break; a break that would miraculously turn into all the X-Men disappearing for the rest of the morning.

Phoebe and Emma instantly shifted their body language to look like they were having a friendly conversation, and had barely even realised the presence of their teammates.

"Oh, is the session finished already?" Emma asked casually as everyone began to quickly make their escape to other parts of the mansion, all aside from Bobby who went over to Phoebe, slinging his arm around her shoulders, and Logan who walked immediately over to Emma to check everything was alright.

"Hey Gem, still feeling tired or do you wanna go play some videogames?" he asked as her steered Phoebe away from the danger room, trying to get them as far away from Wolverine and his infernal training programmes.

"Are you kidding? If I had anymore bags under my eyes I'd look like I'd been smoking something. Plus the added lack of sleep making me irritable and excessive coffee intake to stay awake making me jittery wouldn't exactly make that seem less believable now would it?" Phoebe folded her arms and eyed Bobby as if he'd lost more than a few brain cells.

"You never used to care about that stuff," Bobby shrugged, looking a little taken aback.

"I guess you could say I've got a new lease on life. Now if you want to go clothes shopping later at a reasonable hour then I wouldn't say no," Phoebe offered, a genuine smile touching her lips at the idea.

"Clothes shopping? Instead of playing videogames, you want to go _clothes shopping_?" Bobby repeated as if he couldn't quite comprehend her.

"Well you don't have to come, I just thought since you seem to want to spend so much time with me that we could actually do something fun," Phoebe shrugged on shoulder.

"Yeah you're right. It's _completely_ weird that I'd want to spend some time with _my girlfriend_," Bobby muttered.

Phoebe sighed and took his hand. "Tell you what; we'll go shopping for videogames _and _clothes. Find something remotely interesting to play and I'll risk my eyesight for an hour or so, _provided_ we find you a decent suit for the wedding. And that I get some new clothes, seriously it's like someone threw up, moulded that throw up into the shapes of clothes, froze the shapes and then hung it up in my closet."

Bobby looked confused but happy at the same time, something Phoebe didn't quite not how to respond to, so she dropped his hand, kissed him on the cheek and headed off down the hallway, calling over her shoulder, "I'll get up 10, we'll head out at 11!"

Bobby practically skipped down the corridor to his own room after that, Emma holding Logan's arm back as he unsheathed his claws and attempted to carve up the boy who dared kiss his daughter in front of him.

"Logan _please_. Gemma kissed _Bobby,_ not the other way around. Just _stop!" _Emma groaned, now using both hands to pull on Logan's arm in an annoyed attempt to keep her fiancé at bay.

"Make _them_ stop! Doesn't it make you the least bit sick to watch them _kiss_?" Logan looked her straight in the eye, trying to find the same distaste that lay in his own orbs.

Emma thought about Gemma and Bobby together: It didn't bother her. Emma thought about Phoebe – pretending to be Gemma – and Bobby together: She had to stop herself from gagging. "I'll tell her I need her to help with wedding preparations. Speaking of which, have you given any thought to whom you might ask to be your best man?"

"There's really only one man I'd ever want to ask," Logan shrugged.

Emma allowed herself a small smile. "Bobby?"

"Ha," Logan snorted. "Tempting, but I'm talking about Hank."

"Perfect," Emma's smile widened as she momentarily forgot she was going to have to ruin this wedding. "Then my soon-to-be maid of honour Ororo can walk down the aisle with her boyfriend. Who knows, maybe they'll get ideas?"

Logan wrapped his arms around Emma's waist and pulled her close, catching her off-guard. "One wedding at a time Emma,"

"What, you don't like weddings?" Emma questioned, both curious and hopeful that Logan would call this whole thing off but still want to be with her, thus giving her a possible way out of her predicament, although she knew Selene would probably just make her convince Logan to still marry her, which would be more painful in the long run.

Logan watched Emma's face fall, misinterpreting why as he hastily added, "Weddings are fine, I just don't want to be planning and financing two at the same time."

"Why not? I don't think planning only_ one_ wedding in the space of a month is enough of a challenge," Emma smirked as she wrapped her arms around Logan's neck.

"If you think the wedding itself is going to be a challenge, wait till you have to spend the rest of your life married to me," Logan smiled jokingly, although he knew for a fact what with all the enemies he'd racked up over the years, he might not still be joking not far down the line.

Emma coerced herself into keeping her smile plastered on her face as she replied, "Oh I don't know, you might find our wedding day to be one of the most eventful parts of our marriage."

**Next chapter: Celeste gets second thoughts after reading Emma's. Selene makes a life threatening discovery. Will Phoebe blow her cover? Especially when Lorna makes a surprise visit?**

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	16. Potential Breakup Song

**Gemma Logan 2: The Problems Of Mutant Teenagers**

**Chapter 16: Potential Breakup Song**

**Inspired by 'Potential Breakup Song' by Aly & AJ**

_**If you don't know the drill by now about the different types of speaking please refer back to previous chapters. :^)**_

_**I own nothing but my OC's (Once again, refer to previous chapters if unsure)**_

_**The Hellfire Club Temporary Headquarters, Upstate New York. 5:30am.**_

"-why _you_ didn't come after _me_? Here we have five of you girls all apparently longing to leave the Hellfire club and live with me, yet the only one of my daughters who dared do anything about my death-" Celeste heard Emma demand of Phoebe, using her amplified powers, courtesy of the Hellfire club's improvised cerebro helmet. Sophie, the leader of the Cuckoos, had been taping Gemma's brain a few weeks prior to her kidnapping so that she could have Pierce build a special cerebro for them that would amplify the wearer's powers, but would only allow them to keep tabs on one particular mutant that had to be programmed in. The aim of it was to divert more power to the goal of amplifying the connection between the person and the one they were spying on, since cerebro would only have to focus on finding one person instead of thousands.

Currently, Celeste was forcing herself not to yank the expensive piece of equipment off her head before throwing it across the room and watching Donald's handiwork because shards of metal and tangles of broken wires.

The girl had had _enough_.

She'd been monitoring Emma thoughts since Phoebe had gone to sleep several hours ago, living Emma's horrible dreams of death and deceit, magnified unhappiness and uncontrollable misery, having to share each heart wrenching second of it with her, all the while trying to convince herself that the Hellfire club was the side she was supposed to be on, the _right_ side.

But Emma's speech was causing her resolve to waver once again, making her grip the metal table in front of her that served as the base for the cerebral headset presently making her so confused and despairing.

Was she doing the right thing? Was Emma right, should they have made more of an effort to bring her back to life? Sophie had shared Gemma's memories of the past year with them all, so they knew how Emma was brought back to life, and honestly, they _could_ have at least tried. They had telekinesis to bring the shards together, and they knew the whereabouts of the shards because they had all been there when Emma had died. The girls also had pyrokinesis from their short time controlling the Phoenix, so they could've forged the shards together and found Emma's mind with their telepathy, then going on to use their hive mind to . . . no, they were right not to go after Emma, because Celeste knew for a fact that _they_ wouldn't have destroyed the phoenix like Gemma did.

She – reluctantly – and the others would've tried to wield the phoenix like before, which Emma would hate since she died trying to stop that, and then the others would get angry, go back to the Hellfire club and most likely destroy the world.

Celeste paled at her own train of thought and stopped her imagination from running away with her as fast as she could. She didn't want her sisters reading _those_ thoughts, especially with Phoebe getting so close to Selene recently – she couldn't afford anything that might make her look disloyal.

"Hey Celeste, your shift's over!" Mindee stretched her arms above her head as she came into the small room to take over monitoring Emma's thoughts from Celeste.

"Have you honestly been sleeping all the time that I've been working?" Celeste looked surprised and good-naturedly envious as her sister shrugged.

"It's half past five in the morning. What else should I be doing?" Mindee raised a friendly eyebrow as Celeste pulled the headset off from her head. "Hey when was the last time you were out of that chair?"

"Just before Selene told me to sit in it. So about five or six hours ago." Celeste yawned and covered her mouth with her hand in an effort to be polite.

"I'm surprised your legs haven't locked up. Maybe you should stretch?" Mindee suggested as she stretched her own legs before sitting down and making herself comfortable.

"I'll go use the gym or something for a half hour I guess. There's not much else to do." Celeste leaned against the door frame and pretended to nonchalantly check her nails.

Mindee put the headset on and instantly linked to Emma's mind. "You could go find Sophie or Esme and ask them to go shopping?"

"Yeah, that does sound more fun that a workout." Celeste nodded, not moving.

"Or you could actually get some sleep? Or sleeping _pills_ considering you still seem quite energetic even after no sleep at all during what most people call 'night time'." Mindee assumed her sister was still hanging around because she hadn't found an activity that suited her yet.

"I don't know, maybe I should see New York while we're here since we'll be heading back to Boston after the wedding . . . er- almost wedding." Celeste faltered and once again questioned whether what she was doing was right, something she shouldn't be doing with Mindee in such close proximity.

But Celeste could trust Mindee right?

"Hey Mindee; if you were playing the piano right now what kind of song would you play?" Celeste quizzed, a question that to anybody else would seem completely out of left field, but to Celeste it was a way of gauging her sister's emotions. If Celeste was going to be able to trust Mindee with her concerns then her sister would have to be in an open minded mood.

"Either something exciting to occupy my time for the next few hours or something soothing to keep me sane during the hours of solitude," Mindee grinned. "Nothing catchy though, I think having a really annoying song stuck in my head would probably drive me over the edge."

"Speaking of over the edge . . . how are you feeling about Selene's plan?" Celeste blurted out quickly, hoping if she got the question out at the speed of light then there was no way it could backfire on her.

Mindee's smile vanished instantly. For a few moments she didn't reply, and the two sisters remained in silence, one thinking over what to say, the other wondering desperately what she would hear. After what seemed like forever to Celeste, Mindee answered, "It doesn't really matter what I think. Hive mind remember? We took a vote, and even still, Sophie or Esme if she felt like pushing it would ultimately make the final decision."

"But what if-"Celeste began to try to reason with her sister's lack of faith in her own opinions.

"What if _what, _Celeste?" Mindee cut her off tiredly, even after all her hours of sleep and the fact that she was sitting down. "Why are you pushing this so badly? No offence but aren't you usually the one who just follows orders more blindly than the rest of us?"

"The only thing that offends me is the fact you skipped the part where I will always say when I don't agree with something-" Celeste started to defend her seemingly traitorous views.

"I _know_, Celeste. But you also want us all to get along, don't you?" Mindee tried to appeal to Celeste's family values', trying to play peacekeeper in her sister's apparent absent from the position, whether Mindee herself agreed with it or not.

"I want our _family_ to get along. That doesn't include Selene, but it might include . . ." Celeste trailed off, realising even _she _wasn't yet ready to accept that Emma was their mother or to have her around trying to play that part in their lives. Then again, Phoebe was currently playing the part of a daughter in _Emma's_ life, even if it was all a horrible plot to hurt her.

There, she'd thought it. She'd known that Selene's plan was horrendous and an atrocious thing to do to anyone, let alone Celeste's own mother - whether they accepted and lived as such or otherwise- and she'd finally admitted it, if only to herself.

Celeste looked up at Mindee and saw the girl was still waiting, wanting to know if Celeste had it in her to forgive Emma for her leaving them, because even when someone had little choice in the matter of death, it still felt like a betrayal to those left behind. But Emma had a choice, and a second chance, a fact both Emma and now Celeste knew thanks to Phoebe putting it into basics as an attempt to get Emma to understand why the sisters were doing all this. But now that Celeste thought about it, she didn't understand why they were doing this at all.

Selene?

The Hellfire club?

Some petty attempt at revenge?

All five of the Cuckoos were angry at Emma for dying and thereby forcing them to live life without a mother, looking for comfort in Selene, someone who Celeste had never seen as a decent mother figure, but as Phoebe had pointed out, was there for them and hadn't deserted them or their plan to control the phoenix.

But Celeste didn't want the phoenix, especially after what she saw it do to Emma. Celeste had to admit that whether Emma had done it for her five cloned daughters or not, she had saved them from dying at the hands of the phoenix. Gemma wouldn't have known to save them from the phoenix, so they, unlike Emma, would've stayed dead. Yet another reason it was a good thing for Emma to have taken the phoenix from them. They had been kidding themselves thinking they could command all that power, been brain-washed by the Hellfire club into thinking it was right to do this.

"Those are dangerous thoughts Cel." Mindee warned in a non-aggressive way, simply informing Celeste of the consequences of questioning Selene.

Celeste took a deep breath. "Yes, I suppose they are. But Phoebe is occupied and I doubt Esme and Sophie will think much of it. They are the leaders after all, and as you said, I am known to obey their authority without a good deal of reservation. Besides, it's not like anything with come of it; I am after all alone in my feelings, _aren't I_?"

Mindee saw the bait and refused to take it, she couldn't afford to cause anyone, even Celeste with her relatively untold doubts, to think she might be even the tiniest bit mutinous towards Selene. "Yes, you are. Which means it would be stupid and possibly lethal to discuss this with anyone else."

Celeste sighed in defeat, "In other words keep my mouth shut and my opinions to myself?"

"It's best for everyone Cel." Mindee smiled only slightly more weakly than she normally would have.

"Everyone huh?" Celeste muttered quietly as she left the room. "Maybe you should try telling that to . . . mom. Or at least our _sister _who's currently and literally in the hands of Selene,"

Mindee watched her go without saying a word, not pretending she hadn't heard but denying her need to say anything more, whether it was supporting or against her sister's comments.

At one point she did open her mouth, as if to finally pick up the conversation because she knew if Celeste didn't hear her words then she would most definitely hear her thoughts; but she closed it just as quickly, picked up the headset and began her work monitoring Emma, hoping she hadn't left too big of a time lapse in which Emma's thoughts weren't spied on.

_**New York City Mall, 11:56 am.**_

Phoebe banged her head against the window next to her, praying to anyone that would listen that this four wheeled torture chamber would get the mall already. This was hell. Pure. Unadulterated. _Hell_.

"Gemma would you please cut that out? It's only a public bus, and we're almost there anyway," Bobby tried to keep the groan out of his voice but consider the way 'Gemma' had been acting since they arrived at the bus stop, it was tough going.

"I'll calm down the second this tin can gets looked over by a health inspector!" Phoebe muttered back, low enough so that it seemed as if she didn't want Bobby to hear, and loud enough so she _knew _he would. She glanced at a man a few seats ahead whose mouth had fallen open when he decided to take a nap on the 11:20 to Westchester mall, a drop of drool escaping from it. "And a _charm school_."

Bobby couldn't keep his moan of frustration in check after that last comment, even though in the past fifteen minutes he'd hear much worse come out of his girlfriend's mouth. He had to stifle another moan as his mind drifted back to earlier that day.

_11:15 – Phoebe and Bobby arrive at the bus stop five minutes early for the 11:20 bus after spending ten minutes persuading Emma to let Phoebe help her with wedding preparations after they've been to the mall._

_11:21 – The bus is one minutes late in counting. Phoebe complains about the bus company's lack of preparation and inability to meet their own deadlines, insisting that if it was raining, they'd be getting soaked. Bobby points out that the temperature is so high they removed their jackets on the walk there. Phoebe counters that she didn't say it was raining, she was talking about a hypothetical situation that she doesn't think the bus company is equipped to handle. Bobby points out that they are currently standing in a bus shelter, which not only would protect them from the rain if it was pouring, but which is presently protecting them from the glare of the sun. Phoebe insists it's too far from the curb. Bobby says if she's that worried about the rain, she should've brought an umbrella. Phoebe tells Bobby not to be stupid, it's blazing hot outside. Bobby tries to direct her attention to a plane that is allegedly flying past. Phoebe tells him to get a new hobby._

_11:37 – After nearly twenty minutes of waiting, a bus finally pulls up in front of the two disgruntled blondes. As the doors open, Bobby tries to convince Phoebe she shouldn't chew out the driver of the 11:35 bus driver because it isn't his fault that the 11:20 never came. Phoebe argues that the bus driver is two minutes late and deserves it. Bobby points out they might have to wait longer if the bus driver won't let them on due to verbal harassment. Phoebe says they should at least get a discount. Bobby begs her not to ask for a discount as they mount the bus. Phoebe tells him calmly that she won't ask for a discount, proceeding to then demand one of the bus driver. Bobby puts a hand over her mouth, apologises for his girlfriend's behaving whilst trying to stop Phoebe's muffled protest, quickly handing over the money, taking the tickets and walking up the aisle before the bus driver makes up his mind about kicking them off._

_11:39 – Phoebe finally pries Bobby's hand off her mouth, ready to give him one hell of a verbal takedown before looking around and stating that the bus doesn't have enough seats. Bobby tells her with a hint of fed up sarcasm that he guesses that means they'll be standing for the duration of the trip. Phoebe begins another rant on the lack of thought on the bus company's part for the comfort of their customers. Bobby tunes it out as best he can._

_11:45: The bus empties enough so that Bobby and Phoebe can sit down. Phoebe takes one look at the fabric of the chair and asks where the plastic seat cover dispenser is. Bobby gives her a look that's half disbelieving and half amused at what he hopes is a joke. Phoebe makes no move to sit down. Bobby valiantly tries to refrain from rolling his eyes, takes Phoebe's jacket and lays it down on the chair. Phoebe snatches is back up and mirrors the look of incredulity on Bobby's face before inspecting the coat for gum and dirt, at the same time skewering Bobby whenever he gaze finds his. Bobby lets out an uncontrollable grown and tells her to either continuing standing, sit on the chair or – smirking – sit on his lap. Phoebe scowls at him and slides into the window seat, Bobby sitting beside her, both of their body language saying they'd rather be anywhere but here._

So after 10 minutes of silence and one straight minute of Phoebe not so subtly banging her head against the window, here they were, Phoebe's less than silent protests finally ceasing as she massages her temples and had a game of anywhere but here in her head.

"_A garbage barge. A crumbling cliff edge. A sinking ship. Quality time with __**Emma**__.'_ Phoebe listed exaggeratedly in her head, willing the bus to move faster, wishing she really _was_ Gemma so she could teleport to any of her formerly described 'paradises'.

Noticing his girlfriend's expression – less anger, more skydiving without the parachute grade depression – Bobby searched for a way to cheer the sour faced blonde up, coming to the conclusion that she might lighten up if she had something to take her mind off of things. "Hey, want to play twenty questions?"

"It's a bread box." Phoebe replied, reading his mind which blatantly showed her reluctance towards taking the game any further.

Bobby cleared his throat awkwardly and tried again. "How about we just talk?"

Phoebe barely fought off a grimace as Bobby put his arm around her in the hopes of easing the tension, not knowing that when dealing with this 'Gemma', physical contact was the last thing that would help."Anything you could ever say to me I could access within a few minutes by simply reading your mind; why bother?"

It was incredibly harsh, and Phoebe tried to ignore the way Bobby's face fell, making him look even more depressed than she did. He was about to retract his arm from around her shoulders before – albeit against what she considered her better judgement – Phoebe reached up and entwined their fingers, pulling his arm back in place and begrudgingly resting her head lightly on his shoulder. She gave a mental sigh and told herself if she could handle the hand-holding that ensued on the way hear, and not biting his fingers off when he covered her mouth at her attempt to reprimand the bus driver, so hopefully she could handle this.

She also told herself this was simply to maintain her cover, not because she felt bad for making him unhappy. No she was simply here to completely a job, not make friends, and in order to do that she had to put on a convincing performance and keep herself in the X-Men's good graces.

"What, are you still tired?" Bobby tried to sound bored and uninterested, insistent on letting her know she'd hurt him and that he wasn't going to be too forgiving, although he couldn't keep a teeny tiny bit of concern from seeping into his voice.

"No, I'm not tired." Phoebe informed him before sighing and continuing, "I'm sorry."

Bobby gave the most microscopic hint of his expression softening, asking in a tone that was both casual and accusatory - a skill which Phoebe had to admit impressed her – "About what?"

Phoebe gave a small groan, something Bobby couldn't have missed; which he proved a second later as he began retracting his arm away, stating, "If you don't know what you're sorry for-"

Phoebe pulled it back and blurted, "Everything. An all inclusive apology. The complaining, the moaning, the hostility, the amount of effort it took to convince myself to bite your hand off-" Bobby raised an eyebrow at this so Phoebe hurried on. "Almost getting us kicked off the bus, the general crankiness . . . and the way I treated you before training."

Bobby gave a long-suffering sigh, but pulled Phoebe closer and asked - with what Phoebe considered the concerned patience of a saint after the way she'd been acting, although she hated to admit it – "So why did you do it?"

"I-I-I . . ." Phoebe stammered for what had to be the first time in her life, searching for an excuse; if she was talking to Bobby as herself then she could've just claimed she was a bitch: simple, and accurate in both the present and quite a number of occasions in the past. However since she was playing the role on Gemma, she needed an actually insightful answer for why this normally overbearingly kind and helpful teen was picking fights with everyone she met.

"I-I-I . . ." Phoebe repeated, earning herself a confused, somewhat hurt and concerned look from Bobby. Him and his complicated looks; she would have to re-evaluate labelling him as a moron after their first encounter.

She honestly couldn't think of a reason. Could she just erase this conversation from Bobby's mind? It should be easy enough and she couldn't afford to blow her cover, but something was stopping her. It was like a wall had been put up between her and her cut throat side; there were enough bricks missing so that she could think up the idea, but not enough so that she could actually go through with it.

'_Think fast or mind blast.' _Phoebe told herself, as she expeditiously racked what she considered her highly knowledgeable brain for an answer to his question. When she once again found nothing Phoebe decided to be as honest with him as she could. " . . . I don't know?"

Bobby waited a few minutes before speaking again, certain that the self proclaimed monologuer would have and should have something more to say. No such luck. He copied her phrase almost word for word doubtfully to clarify, "You don't know?"

"I guess I just woke up feeling off."

Phoebe couldn't understand why Bobby kept staring at her . . . it was starting to make her uncomfortable. Her eyes looked anywhere but his face, she even looked at the sleeping man from before just so she wouldn't have to meet Bobby's gaze. After another agonizing minute Phoebe cleared her throat and looked of out the window, spying her salvation through a crowded car park.

"Oh look, we're here." Phoebe paused. "Should we get up now?"

Bobby didn't say anything, although that did manage to shake him out of his trance like state, allowing Phoebe to feel a very familiar emotion.

Annoyance.

"Okay, we're getting up now." Phoebe stood up sharply, Bobby's arm dropping from her shoulders as she reached over to push the button that signalled this way their stop. Phoebe turned to him with a raised eyebrow and replied. "I can't get out until you move, so please do."

Bobby's eyes widened and Phoebe was about to ask him 'what on earth was wrong now? Didn't his legs work?' when she realised he wasn't looking at her. He was looking out of the window at the bus terminal where a green haired girl with clothes to match was alternating glances between her watch and stop in front of her.

When he gaze shifted to the road as the bus pulled up she spotted the couple and waved, a forced smile appearing on her lips that contrasted with her hastily tapping foot and the fact that she couldn't stop playing with her hands.

As the bus moved increasingly slowly towards the bus stop, the girl flicked her hand and the bus sped up, coming to a quick but safe stop as the doors snapped open of what most bystanders assumed was their own accord. Bobby knew better and after reading his mind, so did Phoebe. This was Lorna Dane, also known as Polaris and Bobby's ex-girlfriend, and if the bright gleam in his eye was anything to go by, someone he was very happy to see.

Phoebe scanned his memories of Lorna after their break up and found that he didn't usually react this way to her, so there must be only one explanation: Phoebe.

'_I really need to work on my acting skills, if I make him anymore upset her might start getting suspicious.'_ Phoebe thought anxiously to herself as she followed a speed walking Bobby off of the bus, although she was happy to note Bobby's haste was because of the worried expression Lorna couldn't seem to fully keep off of her face.

"Hi Lorna," Bobby smiled widely at his distressed ex, whole gave him a small but genuine smile back. "What brings you here?"

Phoebe knew she wasn't going to like this girl; you could tell by looking that she was incredibly shy, and she could also cause complications in Phoebe's relationship with Bobby, which wasn't doing so hot right now.

"Apocalypse," Lorna's smile wobbled and her voice, although trying to be casual, couldn't help but show how worried she was.

"What about him?" Phoebe cut straight to the point, and after getting a look from Bobby, "Oh, and hi."

"Do you remember the prison Beast, Forge and Dr. Richards made?" Lorna quizzed them, although if her own experiences were anything to go by, she wasn't sure how her two friends could forget.

'_No, but you two do.'_ Phoebe thought, quickly scanning their minds before replying, "Well it's not something I'm likely to overlook."

"Have to agree with you there." Bobby voiced his approval which pleased Phoebe until she heard his next thoughts, _'A have a feeling that lightening won't be striking twice today.'_

Phoebe wasn't sure whether to be mad at Bobby or herself, so she settled for divvying up the blame 50/50, ready to ask Lorna what her point was before Bobby added, "And hey, shouldn't Beast be Dr. McCoy if Reed is Dr. Richards?"

Lorna blushed and nodded her head, muttering apologies that Bobby found unnecessary and Phoebe found increasingly irritating. _'Yes, I'm definitely not going to like this girl. Too innocent and goody-goody. Do something other than look shy and awkward!'_

Phoebe forced a smile as Lorna looked at her curiously, the blonde thinking that her expression had no doubt shown her dislike towards the girl, something she was swift to cover up. She didn't need more people suspecting all was not as it appeared in regards to her, one person a day was enough.

"So Lorna, what does the machine have to do with us?" Phoebe queried, trying to rapidly move past that moment of uncertainty on Lorna's part and cut to the chase, something Phoebe seemed to doing a lot with the green haired girl.

Lorna heaved a worried sigh and told them the news. "The machine is beginning to malfunction so we need the Doctors and Forge to-"

"The Doctors and Forge? That sounds like a bad Sci-Fi film." Bobby interrupted. "Or maybe a horror-"

"Bobby you once told me the only way I would be heard around the X-Men would be butt in when speaking, so in the nicest way possible, please shut up and try to understand the graveness of the situation." Lorna spoke sharply as if getting all her words out in one fast paced, clipped sentence would lessen the blow.

Phoebe snorted at the girl's sudden back-boned, an action which she promptly stopped after noticing she'd only served to aggravate Bobby more. "Eh heh, sorry Bobcat."

Bobby shrugged a little dejectedly, but he did seem to brighten a little bit when she called him 'Bobcat'.

'_Note to self,'_ Phoebe mused. _'Bobby finds stupid nicknames endearing.'_

She flashed him a brilliant smile, showing another habit Phoebe seemed to develop around these people: insulting them in her head and then covering it with an overbearing smile. The smile was just as dazzling as this morning's, but the effect on Bobby seemed to be slightly lessened, although he was still mesmerised for a moment.

"It's fine. Lorna's right we need to be serious about . . . ?" Bobby turned to Lorna so she could explain what exactly was happening.

"Well, as I was saying," Lorna continued. "The Doc- Reed, Hank and Forge need to fix the machine and make it stronger as I think Apocalypse was substantially weakened when we fought him, so we underestimated how much power the prison would need to hold him. This improvement plan also requires you-"She looked at Gemma. "Jean and Susan to be there to hold him whilst they are at work. Although if I'm honest I'm not sure if you'll have enough power to do so now he's regained his strength . . ."

Bobby tried to exchange a glance with Phoebe, but since she didn't have the connection Gemma had with Bobby, Phoebe didn't know to look so the Iceman's effort was lost on her. Bobby frowned a little and then addressed Lorna without consulting Phoebe through eye contact, "We have a new telekinetic on the team, Gemma's friend Abbie. She's not much in the way of a nice person, but I guess any extra boost of power will count. We could also call Brad if we were _really_ desperate."

Lorna dipped her head in agreement and thought solemnly about where or not they would need to call in Brad. "Depending on Abbie's power I don't know if we'll need him, although if it becomes too much Gemma could always teleport-"

"No!" Phoebe exclaimed loudly, making Lorna, Bobby and several other occupants of the bus station turn to stare at her. "I-I mean it would be better to have him there already, just in case. Plus if Apocalypse was close to breaking free I doubt my absence would help that, it could even be the break in the chain that sets him loose."

Lorna and Bobby nodded slowly, a gesture which Phoebe couldn't decide whether it was because they were processing this, or wondering why on earth she found this so important.

"You're right." Lorna approved after shaking off her surprise. "Better safe than sorry,"

"And if Apocalypse is set loose, you can bet we'll all be _very_ sorry." Phoebe tried to help her case, hoping she wasn't just making it worse.

"Well we need to move quickly if we're going to do this, before Apocalypse gains even more power." Lorna began to verbally make their plan of action. "If you can teleport us to the manor-"

"Lorna how did you get here?" Phoebe asked quickly, hoping the guess she'd just banked her entire cover on would be correct.

"What? Oh right, Blink teleported me here and then she headed back to Genosha since I figured I could just get a lift with you-"Lorna began, only to be cut short again.

"Would you mind getting Blink to teleport us home? I'm feeling a little drained after this morning's training session and my lack of sleep." Phoebe explained, praying her gamble would pay off.

"Uh, sure," Lorna replied, caught off guard by the action. "But if you're feeling drained-"

"Oh I'll be able to help you, don't worry. I just need some rest while you're planning to prepare myself . . . emotionally . . . physically . . . mentally . . . and uh, spiritually?" Phoebe strung along her excuses, trusting that altogether they might just sound believable.

"Alright, but now I think we'll definitely have Brad there. Lindsay too since she might need to heal our injuries if things get out of hand." Lorna consented, casting Phoebe a worried glance as she pulled out her cell phone to call Blink.

"You can guarantee that if Brad's there and Logan's there then she'll have to heal at least _one_ injury." Bobby commented jokingly, although he himself wasn't quite sure to what extent.

Phoebe gave a laugh that was both genuine and fake in response to Bobby's jibe, hoping it would earn her some metaphorical brownie points. It did, until she laughed to long and had to cough to make it sound remotely natural, Bobby patting her back while Lorna spoke to Blink and hung up.

A few seconds and one offer of the Heimlich manoeuvre later, and Blink appeared – rather obviously – in front of them, the three teens stepping into the portal, Bobby supporting a still fake coughing Phoebe.

_**The Hellfire Club Temporary Headquarters, Upstate New York. 1:30pm.**_

Celeste mentally scolded herself as she wandered around the Hellfire Club's luxury apartment, pretending to be going for a stroll to help ease her boredom, but actually monitoring Selene's thoughts as best and as secretively as she could. She honestly couldn't understand why no one asked her what she was doing, she had to have passed by each one of the other members – minus Mindee – at least five times each as she tried to stay as close to Selene's room as she could without raising suspicion.

As if on cue, as she passed through the living room where Shaw and Leland were playing chess, Esme reading on the plush sofa that ran along on side on the room, her sister spoke up about her unusual walking habits. "Restless Cel? Maybe you should take a walk outside, get some fresh air? Clear up whatever's on your mind that's got you so frazzled?"

Celeste smiled wearily at Esme, coming up with a half truth to explain her strange behaviour, "I'm supposed to be getting some sleep but I'm not all that tired. I guess I'm trying to exhaust myself into a slumber."

In all honesty, she _was_ exhausted, since she'd basically gone from monitoring one person's thoughts to another, plus she had to be stealthier with her probing this time around.

"Chess can exhaust the mind. Perhaps you should play winner?" Leland suggested.

"Yeah, because you really want to be like the Professor and Magneto wannabes," Esme whispered, making Celeste giggle as she tried to work out who was who.

'_**Oh please, Shaw is blatantly trying to be Charles, play teacher to all us impressionable youths. Although I don't think blackmailing your egg donor is on the usual curriculum.' **_Esme mocked in her head, causing Celeste to once again laugh at her sister's comments.

"I do believe Celeste is going mad, laughing at nothing." Shaw commented. "Right Esme?"

"Of course," Esme returned to her magazine again as Shaw put Leland's king into check and got out of the seat in front of the large man.

"Here, you can play loser." Shaw smirked harshly in Leland's direction although he was speaking to Celeste. "Something to help focus your mind while I go speak with Selene."

"I do want a rematch Sebastian." Leland informed darkly, deeply infuriated by Shaw's self-righteous smirk.

"And you'll get it as soon as I'm done. Now why don't you play with a worthy opponent?" Shaw's smirk grew wider, making Leland's fists clench.

"I think he merely means I give the impression of worthiness because I can read your mind, although I assure you I don't plan on it." Celeste tried to diffuse the situation. _'Nope, my mind's a little busy right now.'_

"Of course," Sebastian gave Leland a wide an evil grin.

"Of course," Leland forced one of his own.

The two men stared at each other before Shaw finally broke eye contact and left to go find the team's resident sorceress. Leland watched him go with an outraged expression.

Celeste slid into Sebastian's empty seat, blocking Leland's view of the man who sought to bait him, asking, "So, are you ready to play? If you want I can read his mind in the re-match to help you win."

Leland stopped trying to see Shaw behind her shoulders and smiled, "A gracious offer but I shall beat Shaw on honest terms. Now considering your previous statement, are you ready to play fair?"

"No promises." Celeste beamed as she telekinetically moved one of her pawns, thus starting the game, clandestinely listening in to Selene a Shaw's conversation.

**There was a knock at Selene's door and a moment later, Shaw stepped over her threshold. "Ah Sebastian, just the man I wanted to see."**

"**I hear you have news concerning the girl." Sebastian nodded his head at Gemma.**

**The once strong and happy blonde was currently lying on Selene's bed, handcuffed to the woman in question who had never let go of her since her arrival at the apartment and was currently sitting beside the lifeless girl, draining her energy levels far more thoroughly than she ever had, be the victim human or mutant.**

"**She's like nothing I've ever known before Sebastian. I can drain her energy levels to near death and yet without me even having to ease up, her healing factor brings her back to life. She's some kind of mutant battery that never runs out, and the power boost I get from her is immense." Selene described her captive excitedly.**

"**It's no doubt the healing factor that does it." Shaw commented. "I sense that you might be more reluctant to let her go now?"**

"**I can't set her free now or at all Shaw! I can't give up the exhilarating power she possesses, it would be incredibly idiotic of us to let go of such an incredible asset." Selene appealed to him, refusing to relinquish Emma's daughter, prepared to double cross her ex-teammate if she had to. The black haired vampire was seriously close to wanting to have Gemma here with them instead of Emma; far less useful and more of draining than strengthening. Although she found the thought of Emma being miserable simply delightful, she just couldn't bring herself to pass up what she saw as a brilliant opportunity to shift the scales of world power.**

"**Then you won't have to my queen, we'll simply keep Gemma and Emma, insisting we'll give the girl back once Emma is in the confines of our walls." Shaw grinned conspiratorially.**

"**To back-stab a back-stabber? What a great justice we'll be bringing into the world. And that little bimbo will do whatever it takes to get her precious daughter back." Selene laughed menacingly. "What a lovely mother she is-"**

Celeste shook her head to get the horrible plan out of her head, snubbing the chance to learn more about their plans because she simply couldn't take the insulting of her mother and the overall evilness of their exploits.

"Beginning to feel the heat Cel?" Esme questioned with a snicker from behind her, making Celeste jump. She'd been absently moving her pieces on the board as she listened to the conversation, not noticing her sister come up behind her or that she was playing one of the worst games of her life. In more ways than one.

She eyed the board worriedly, but not over this particular game, and moved her queen to take out the nearest piece she could. Leland flashed her a broad grin before announcing, "Checkmate."

Celeste nodded sombrely. She glanced at the pitiful board, seeing Leland's black pieces dominate her white. All that was left of her pieces on the board was the king, a rook, a horse, a pawn, and of course, the White Queen.

**Please read & review :^)**

**Next chapter: The X-Men travel to Genosha to sort out Apocalypse's prison, with a few friends and frenemies tagging along. Will Phoebe continue to struggle with her cover? Will she be able to pull off Gemma's level of power? And just how many of people will end up on Logan's hit list?**

**:^)**


	17. Weightless

**Gemma Logan 2: The Problems Of Mutant Teenagers**

**Chapter 17: Weightless**

**Inspired by 'Weightless' by All Time Low**

_**If you don't know the drill by now about the different types of speaking please refer back to previous chapters. :^)**_

_**I own nothing but my OC's (Once again, refer to previous chapters if unsure)**_

_**X-Mansion Dinning Room, 1:45pm.**_

Emma sat at the dinning room table planning a wedding she knew would be the worst day of her life after her attempts to persuade a daughter she already felt was the worst she could possibly have had failed and she was left to plan this horror alone.

She had bridal magazines neatly stacked to the left of her, a pen pot on the right and a large white file directly in front of her, categories already neatly labeled with several sheets of paper ready for use in each, yes she was truly ready to plan this wedding, she just wasn't sure if she was ready to plan it all out and then watch it go up in the consuming flames of the Hellfire club.

Emma sighed and put down her pen, knowing all too well that the sheets of paper in her file were as white as the binder itself, and would stay that way for as long as possible.

"Distainful sighs Emma? I thought you would be ecstatic at the the thought of being in complete control of planning an event where you actually have a reason to wear _white_." Ororo smiled, coming into the kitchen and exercising a bad sense of timing she was unaware she had.

Emma gave a weak smile back, remembered she had to keep up appearance and quickly pulled an excuse out of thin air; after years of practice she had no problem lying to people she considered her friends, although after coming back to life it was a skill Emma assumed she would never need again.

"Yes well, as much as I like making all the decisions it is a _little _over-whelming to be planning a wedding a month." Emma then grinned with a tiny bit of genuinity. "Don't tell Logan that."

Storm mimicked her grin and replied, "Of course not. And if you need my help Emma you have only to ask."

Emma remembered she had yet to ask Ororo one of the most important questions she had about her upcoming nuptuals, "While you mention it, there is something I need to talk to you about."

Ororo pulled out the chair next to Emma and sat down, her silence a nonverbal cue for Emma to start talking.

"Ororo, I have never been one to have many friends. I had people I used, and people who _tried_ to use me. I've had enemies, rivals and eventually even a family, but to say that during my life after school that I've had any true friends would have been a lie until this past year. But thanks to _you_ I know how have something of a best friend whom with I can confide-" Emma's current situation causes her voice to faulter at that last word, although from the shocked look on Ororo's face, the blonde assumed her friend just thought her voice was cracking with emotion, although Emma knew for a fact the white haired woman wouldn't be able to guess _which_ emotion. She continued, "Confide in. So it would make me substantially happy to have you as my maid of honour for the wedding."

Emma let her words hang in the air not out of her own doing, but because Ororo had yet to reply.

Oror finally broke her stunned silence by enquiring, "But wouldn't you rather have Gemma be your maid of honour?"

Emma smiled a secret smile that just managed to be devoid of bitterness. In truth, she would have still picked Ororo as her made of honour even if Gemma was still with them, but the fact Phoebe's presence meant she didn't even have a choice was like a knife to the back. Whether Selene knew it or not, she seemed to hold a significant stake in Emma's decisions in regards to the wedding, and even worse, the way the held herself and lived her life.

"No Ororo, I find that maid of honour is best left to the brides best friend. Besides, I know Gemma would be happier walking down the isle behind me with Bobby than Hank." Emma answered, a touch of humour entering her smile as she imagined Phoebe walking down the isle with Hank, probably making snide comments in her head and wishing she could fade into the background rather than risk getting 'beast' hairs on her dress.

'_Note to self, make Phoebe wear the ugliest bridesmade dress possible.'_ And then an idea struck Emma. "Actually, it's always been a dream of mine to have my daughter walk down the isle as a flower girl at my wedding." She was lying through her teeth, but it didn't matter. Phoebe would be mortified, and Emma would jump at the chance to bring _any_ amount of justice down on Phoebe, not matter how small or petty.

"You want a teenage flower girl?" Oror raised her eyebrows skeptically, wondering what would possess Emma to have her eighteen year old daughter who she claimed to love so much walk down the isle with a basket of flowers, no doubt with an expression of pure humiliation gracing her features.

"Oh I'm sure Gemma would just love to do it, I'll even let her wear her favourite colour. White to match my dress with green flowers." Emma began to plan her trivial revenge in her head, making a note to look online for the worst green flower imaginable. "But anyway, do you accept?"

"I'd love to." Ororo beamed proudly as she looked at Emma's blank file. "I suppose that's something you can add to your er- already significantly planned ceramony."

Emma flipped to the guest list part of her file, writing Ororo's name and role on the sheet marked 'In the wedding'. She also added Hank's name to the list and wrote Forge, Bobby Peter and Taylor as groomsmen, Gemma, Kitty and Rogue as bridesmaids-

"Perhaps you should write who will be paired with who, I have no doubt you'll to choose carefully considering some of the team's past . . . romantic difficulties." Ororo suggested, then adding, "Oh and you forgot Abbie."

Emma gave her a fairly sly grin. "No I didn't. But you are right about the honour attendants. And I left out Kurt and Tilde-"

"Maybe you should have Tilde be the flower girl-" Ororo began to put forward before Emma interrupted her.

"No, no. Gemma would be crushed."

"You haven't asked her yet-"

"She's a mind reader Ororo."

"She's also at the mall right now-"

Suddenly a portal appeared by the entranced to the kitchen and out stepped Lorna, Blink, Bobby and Phoebe, all with varying expressions of urgency, Blink and Lorna being at the height of hysteria and Phoebe being at the summit of slight concern.

"We do have doors you know." Emma placed her pen carefully on her file as she and Oror turned to face the four mutants. "They may have cobwebs from disuse, but they are still there."

Lorna was about to blush which caused Phoebe to barely repress an eyeroll and reveal, "There was no time, there's an emergency in Genosha. We have to get there as soon as possible; it's vital we leave right this minute." Her just-the-polite-side-of-boredom tone conflicted with her supposedly troubled words.

'_**This is obviously tearing you apart.'**_ Emma gave Phoebe a sarcasticly telepathic prompt.

Phoebe sent Emma an image of her smiling sarkily as she added with more concerned enthusiasm, "If we don't act quickly, Apocalypse might escape from his prison cell."

That took the spiteful humour right out of Emma, as Lorna quickly paraphrased, "Not right this second, but Gemma's is correct in that we need to be vigilant in our efforts to repair his cell before he can break loose."

"I'll call the Fantastic Four," Bobby visable cringed when Emma said this, but the blonde bride-to-be continued on as if she hadn't noticed. "Ororo, go find Hank and Forge; Bobby, locate Logan, Jean and Scott; and Gemma, round up the rest of the X-Men. I want everyone suited up and in the hangar in ten minutes. Lorna and Blink, make yourselves at home in the X-Jet."

"We don't have the X-Jet, remember? Hazel and-" Bobby commented helpfully to some extent.

"Blink is teleporting us all to Genosha after she retrieves Lindsay and Brad." Lorna supplied, to which Emma gave a curt nod before resumming barking out orders.

"Right, then we'll meet in the kitchen. Let's get going people, we don't have a lot of time." Emma commanded as the X-Men hurried to do what had been asked.

"Gee, wish _I'd_ said that." Phoebe called over her shoulder mockingly, something which Emma ignored as she ran off to use the hall phone.

Ororo hung back a moment, using her lightening to punch two holes in the spines of each bridal magazines before clipping them into wedding file and proceeding to leave the room.

"Ororo? What should I do?" Lorna quizzed, somewhat at a loss for something useful to do as everyone else rushed to do their assigned jobs.

Ororo smiled mildly, replying, "Just make yourself comfortable and hold onto this for me."

Leaving the file in Lorna's slightly confused and more than a little put out hands, Ororo sprinted in the direction of Forge's lab, hoping both he and her boyfriend would be in the place so as to save time.

_**The Hellfire Club Temporary Headquarters, Upstate New York. 1:45pm. **_

Celeste yawned as she walked tiredly down the hallway to her bedroom. The game with Leland and the realisations that came with it had left her weary and eager for sleep, not to mention the fact that she'd spent quite a few hours beforehand monitoring Emma thoughts. As she was thinking this she passed by the cerebro room and saw Mindee swapping over with Sophie, the former having done her days work for now.

"Hey Cel hang on a minute!" Mindee called after her, causing Celeste to stop hopefully in her tracks, allowing herself a moment of optimism in which she thought Mindee might have changed her mind and decided to help Celeste with her plan to stop the Hellfire club from ruining Emma's life; not that at this moment she had much of a plan to help with.

She knew her instant of wishful thinking was rapidly over when Mindee continued, "Have you been shopping yet? Because I need some new shoes and if you haven't already-"

"No, I haven't." Celeste replied only half as sullenly as she felt. "Actual I was hoping to talk to Sophie right now . . ."

"Not gonna happen, it's Sophie's turn to monitor _mother-dearest_." Mindee informed, adding a touch of sarcasm to her last words.

Celeste mentally checked Phoebe's whereabouts and pointed out, "But Phoebe's with her."

"_Yeah_ but it's not her job to monitor Emma's thoughts. If we just started skipping out our duties you can bet Selene would have something to say about it." Mindee countered.

"Since when does Selene _not _have something to say about _anything_?" Celeste challenged.

Mindee gave a long suffering sigh and began to question, "This isn't about _Emma_ again is it? Celeste we've been over-"

"Nevermind, I'll talk to her later." Celeste waved off Mindee's unfinished accusation as an idea formed in her mind. She wanted to talk to all her sisters separately, get their ideas, and since Sophie was occupied, Mindee was adamant and she wanted to save Esme for last, what was stopping her from telepathically asking Phoebe?

'_The fact that she might report my 'concerns' back to Selene?'_ the thought flitted uneasily through Celeste's mind, and she needed a moment to think up a back up plan if that happened, although infortunately it was a moment she didn't have.

"So does that mean you're coming shopping?" Mindee asked hopefully.

Celeste gave an apologetic smile and replied," Sorry Min but I haven't gotten any sleep since you let me off of my shift, and I could really use the rest."

It wasn't a lie, not really. She _did_ need the rest, and she hadn't outright said she would be sleeping, which she wouldn't if her speedily forming Plan B had anything to say about it.

"Alright, well I could use a bit of rest too I guess. How about we meet by the front door in three hours?" Mindee suggested, although if she thought that three hours was enough sleep for someone who hadn't been to dreamland since the day before, and wouldn't be for the forceable future, she she had another thing coming.

"Sure." Celeste nodded, fully intending to go shopping with Mindee. If plan A and plan B didn't work with Phoebe, then she probably wouldn't want to be around when the fallout of Selene's anger hit. Not to mention once she was done with Phoebe she still had to talk to Sophie and Esme.

When Celeste and Mindee reached the end of the hallway and went into their respective bedrooms, Celeste sighed disdainfully. This was a lot of trouble to go to in order to do the right thing; in other words, Emma had better appreciate it.

_**X-Mansion Dinning Room, 2pm.**_

Emma frustratedly put down the mansion's handset and began to walk edgily towards the kitchen. That had been her second phone call of the past fifteen minutes, her first being phoning the Fantastic Four to inform them of them situation and when they would be getting picked up; the second being a heated conversation with Magneto about why Blink had basically teleported into his base with no warning whatsoever, grabbed Lindsay and Brad and then teleported back out, only to have to teleport back in since Brad had apparently been telekinetically holding up a heavy piece of machinary at the time of his depature, and Lindsay was now needed to heal several people who were injured when it dropped. Emma had agreed with Magneto that Lindsay and Brad would be teleported to Genosha after the X-Men had already arrived . . . and a detailed forewarning.

Upon entering the kitchen she discovered everyone was assembled and waiting for her, some more patiently than others.

"Yes Jean?" Emma gave the woman staring annoyedly at her a no-nonsense look that pointedly told her if she had something to say then she'd best say if before Emma decided to mind blast it out of her.

"Just waiting for you to _get off the phone_ so that we can leave." Jean shrugged, attempting casualness but radiating arrogance.

"I apologize. I always was better at _face to face_ confrontation, perhaps next time I should leave manning the phones to _you_?" Emma looked at her innocently, and when she recieved no response she added insultingly, "No? Pity, I was just thinking about investing in a crank operated phone, and I know how you do so love to _wind things up_-"

"Time is really of the essence. This is a very delicate situation." Lorna interrupted, trying to diffuse the situation since everyone else was apparently fed up of trying.

Both women composed themsevles and nodded as Blink created a portal and they all stepped through into the Genoshan prison on the other side, Blink getting rid of that portal one everyone was in the dank holding place of Apocalypse before creating another to retrieve the Fantastic Four. Moments later the X-Men's allies joined them and Emma pulled out her cell phone.

"Hey Gemma." Johnny automatically walked over to where Phoebe and Bobby were standing, Bobby tensing and fighting not to rolled his eyes or groan.

Phoebe gave him a questioning glance and immediately picked up on his thoughts. _'Just because you want to be friends with him doesn't mean I do.'_

Phoebe raised her eyebrows at Bobby's possessiveness and scanned the memories of the two boys vying for her attention, and as she soon found out, her affections. Now Phoebe had to fight to supress her own eyeroll. Really, a love triangle? She hadn't had much respect for Gemma previously but now what she did have had disminished by at least half.

She could praise Gemma for staying faithful to Bobby and not leading Johnny on but honestly, trying to be friends someone who was in love with you? Had the girl not heard of _Twilight_?

Bobby couldn't quite decipher why his girlfriend's expression seemed to be the facial equivalent of face-palming, but it was certainly funny to watch as she replied in a carefully neutrally tone, "Hello Johnny."

"Seems we can't go a day without being around each other." Johnny offered half serious, half joking.

Phoebe shrugged indifferently, "Well if you'd like me to fix that I do believe my services are required elsewhere." Phoebe cast her eyes towards Jean, Hank, Reed, Forge, Sue and Abbie. "Duty calls, see you later." She squeased Bobby's hand before walking off towards the other telepaths, scientists and engineers, leaving Bobby with a huge grin on his face and Johnny with a highly bemused look on his face.

As Phoebe joined her teammates a portal appeared next to them, Blink stepping out of it Lindsay and Brad in toe after having been given the goahead from Magneto.

"Problems?" Emma queried Blink, noticing the aggravated glint in the other woman's eye.

"Not really. I got a stern talking to and a job offer." Blink shrugged her shoulders impassively, although her eyes betrayed her irritation at having to speak with her formed boss.

"Count yourself lucky," Emma replied whilst trying to lighten her pink haired companion's mood. "I got a curfew, a bill for damages _and_ he hung up on me."

"You should've mentioned the wedding, he might've been nicer." Blink suggested although her words didn't have much conviction.

"I did. Why do you think he hung up on me?" Emma smirked, Blink mirroring her actions.

"Speaking of the wedding, Lorna where's that file I gave you?" Storm requested of the younger girl who was currently greeting Wanda and Kurt.

"Did you say wedding?" Lindsay enquired dumbfoundedly as Storm went to reclaim the marriage folder, alerting everyone around her to hers and Brad's presence – as if the big pink portal wasn't enough to make an entrance. Brad was making his existance painfully obvious by the fact that he was standing so close to Lindsay that their arms could have been glued together, and they in turn were standing as far away from the others.

"Lindsay!" Kitty ran over to hug her friend, and as Lindsay took a step towards the brunette, Brad took one too.

"Might want to amp up the bravado just a little." Lindsay whispered to Brad, earning her an elbow to the ribs as he scrunched up his face in obvious protest to being here, although as Kitty grew neared he did move away considerably so as to be out of the range of her bear hug.

"Hey Kit!" Lindsay returned the hug, Taylor, Abbie and Phoebe coming over to greet her as well. "Abbie." A smile. "Gemma." A hug. "Brain-drain." A smirk and nod as Lindsay referenced her last encounter with Taylor, during which she passed out from trying to heal him.

"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Phoebe glanced at Bobby, and quickly probed everyone in the room's mind for memories, names, feelings etc. Basically anything she thought she'd need in the future considering she was tired of having to read minds every second of the day just to get a clue as to what was going on.

Bobby and Lindsay locked eyes and they each smirked slowly.

"I've missed you so much." Lindsay deadpanned as Bobby began walking over to the group.

"My life is empty without you." Bobby monotoned, slinging his arm around her playfully.

Lindsay finally noticed Peter, who had been talking to Forge, walking over to them. She gave him a friendly wave, "Hi Peter." They were on thin ice, so she didn't dare use his nickname.

"Hi Lindsay." Peter replied, nodding at her.

'_**Aren't we just the poster group for 'Dysfunctional Relationships'?'**_ Bobby joked.

Phoebe was beginning to understand the connection between Bobby and Gemma. Bobby's thoughts were always at the forefront of Gemma's mind, something Phoebe had been working on since arriving, and they seemed to be able to communicate by just gazing at each other's eyes. She was also beginning to be able to do this, but only marginally as she often missed things.

"Gemma? Gemma you in there?" Phoebe blinked rapidly as Bobby waved a hand in front of her face.

Phoebe smirked jokingly at him, "I'm pretending this cold prison is the food court at the mall. I could really use a coffee right now."

"Well if you're cold," Bobby pulled away from Lindsay and wrapped an arm around Phoebe, who gave him Gemma's classic eye roll and smile.

'_**Don't say that, Johnny'll come over with some corny line about warming me up.'**_ Phoebe warned teasingly, and had to contain a laughed when Bobby's arm tightened around her.

He took one look at her quivering lips and copied her previously eye roll, "You're just saying that so I'll keep my arm around you."

"Riiight," Phoebe gave him another smirk, deciding since she was having a rare moment where she was playing Gemma perfectly that she should try to continue the streak. "So Lindsay, how's Rogue, Gambit and the baby?"

"Great. Rogue wanted to come but her over-protective husband wouldn't let her." Lindsay looked pointedly at Brad.

"Oh yeah, why wouldn't I want to take my pregnant wife to a prison to watch me help contain a nearly escaped madman?" Brad rolled his eyes extravagantly.

"Your former boss." Lindsay coughed to cover her words.

"Right back at you." Brad mirrored her 'stealth technique'.

The two glared at each other for a moment with no real malice before resumming the conversation with the others.

"Oh, and Gambit couldn't come because a) Brad wanted him to watch over Rogue and b) He figured the only reason Wolverine wouldn't kill Brad would be because he was the father of Rogue's baby, so he skipped out because he didn't have a child to use as a bargaining chip for his life." Lindsay recounted her boyfriend's ridiculous excuse with a far off look and a reprimanding smile on her face.

"Oh that reminds me," Brad's eyes widened in rememberance before returning to normal as he faced Phoebe. "Gambit said to tell you not to kill Lindsay. His exactly words were 'Since that generally seems to happen when I'm not around'."

Phoebe's mouth dropped open at the murder accusation before her memory pulled up the others' past experiences with Lindsay, Gemma and Gambit, and the blonde almost smacked herself at that moment just because she looked like Gemma. How many times had her reckless sister almost killed the girl in front of her? She was surprised Lindsay had any self esteem left at all what with Gemma always putting people before her.

"I am truly sorry for what happened in the past. I promise I'll never put your life in harm's way again." Phoebe said sincerely. She had no hold over Gemma's actions, but for the next 3 weeks and a few days, Phoebe was going to protect the black haired girl in front of her at nearly any cost in an attempt to make up for Gemma's past.

Lindsay blinked at the seriousness of Phoebe's words. "Th-thank you?"

"Gemma? Brad? We're ready to begin." Hank called from another part of the room.

Phoebe smiled earnestly at Lindsay and once again squeezed Bobby's hand before walking towards Hank, Brad and his confused expression in toe.

"What was that all about?" Lindsay looked to Bobby since he seemed most likely to know what was going on with 'Gemma'.

"Her apology to you?" Bobby stroked his chin in thought. "She did say she was feeling off today."

Lindsay's eyes went wide as the jibe momentarily caught off guard, but she was quick to recover and thumped Bobby on the arm the second she did.

"Hey!" Bobby rubbed his soon to be bruised arm as if she'd shot him. "That hurt."

"So does looking at your face." Lindsay retorted, beginning a fight of petty insults that would last for most of their time at the prison.

_**Genoshan Prison, 2:45pm.**_

"Alright let's go over this again. For possible groomsmen we have Taylor, Kurt, Forge, Bobby, Peter-" Ororo began.

"No Peter's the ring bearer." Emma interjected.

"Wouldn't it make more sense for Forge to be the ring bearer? He does have tension with more people than Peter."

"Okay, so we have Gemma as the flower girl; Forge as the ring bearer; Kitty with Kurt; Bobby with Lindsay-"

Both women glanced over at where the afore mentioned couple were currently fighting over some irrelevant matter that had bored even their friends into leaving them alone to snipe at each other.

"Taylor with Lindsay?" Ororo suggested as she and Emma shared a telepathic image of Lindsay and Bobby getting into a fist fight and stepping on Emma's train, effectively haulting her graceful descent down the isle.

"With Abbie holding the train." Emma added. "Behind her will be you and Hank, then Kitty and Kurt, then Taylor and Lindsay, then Peter with Rogue, then Bobby with . . ."

"I think we've ran out of bridesmaids." Ororo sighed. She and Emma had been planning practically as soon as Emma had finished warning Magneto that Blink was coming to pick up Brad and Lindsay. So far Logan had opted to stay out of it, choosing to look at what Reed, Forge and Hank were doing. They had finally begun the repairs on Apocalypse's cell, all of the telekinetics were sittiing in a circle around him, working on keeping the bubble he was contained in for the time being stable, and at Phoebe's request, _sound-proof_.

There were three things about this that stuck out in Emma's mind. Two good, one bad. The first good thing was that thanks to Phoebe's irritable temper, Emma could concentrate on the wedding plans without having to listen to Apocalypse, who by the looks of things, didn't know they couldn't hear him as his mouth was open wide, showing he was no doubt shouting things at them; whether it was explexitives or profanity-less degradations, Emma didn't know, and she wasn't took keen to find out.

The first and only bad thing was that Logan seemed more interested in what Hank and the others were doing than the wedding. Emma remembered when Hank had been showing Reed the danger room and she and Logan had practically fought each other for the excuse to leave the room to open the door. What they were doing right now should logically be equally as mind-numbingly boring to him, yet instead of planning their marriage with her and Storm, he was resigning himself to watch, which couldn't really be taken as much more than a gesture that he wasn't interested in the wedding.

The second good thing was in fact the first, the point that Logan wasn't interested in the ceramony and what it entailed was a small consolation prize for Emma, who hoped than since Logan didn't want much to do with the planning, he might be less upset when things didn't actually follow that plan.

"I suppose we could always leave someone out of the wedding. Maybe Kurt would want to sit with Lorna and Wanda? Or maybe Wanda could be a bridesmaid." Emma held no special place in her heart for Wanda, but her husband's aversion to spending time preparing their wedding was taking a toll on her enthusiasm for finding a more suitable choice.

"We could ask Sue?" Ororo recommended, glancing at the circle of the telekinetics and spotting the woman in question hard at work.

"I'm not so sure, perhaps we could have Bobby carry the train with Abbie?" Emma suggested absently, although the look of disbelief on Ororo's face brought her back to the matter at hand. "You're right, we might as well pair him with Lindsay. Hmmm, perhaps Peter and Abbie carrying the train, you and Hank behind them with Bobby and Rogue following, then Kurt and Kitty and finally Lindsay and Taylor bringing up the rear?"

"I think we've finally decided the wedding procession." Storm agreed, and then a look of mild confusion entered her eyes. "Unless of course you want to have Jean and Scott-"

"Scott, yes. Jean, no. But we can't have one without the other so I suppose we'll leave them both out, but with front row seats of course." Emma interposed before Storm could finish her thought. "What's next? Seating charts?"

"We need a guest list first." Ororo reminded Emma. "Although it should be considerably easier than most weddings since neither the bride or the groom are inviting their families."

Emma chuckled for a short moment, "Yes, something tells me we won't be sending Sabertooth an invitation, or anyone from my- oh dear God we've forgotten Laura!" Emma slapped her forehead angrily, hoping the girl with the amazing hearing hadn't heard. "Wait, wait. Right we'll have Laura and Tilde behind Lindsay and Taylor."

"Again, maybe Laura would be better suited as flower girl-" Ororo began.

"Don't be silly, she'd gut me before we even got to the bridal shop to try on dresses." Emma butted in, once again leaving Ororo perplexed as to why Emma was willing to make Gemma play the part of flower girl, but she supposed since it was Emma's wedding and not hers then she shouldn't push the matter.

Ororo sighed at that, wondering if _she_ would ever make plans for a wedding of her own, not know that she was thinking this so loud that Emma couldn't help but overhear. "You do know when I throw the bouquet I'll be telekinetically guiding it to your hands, don't you Ororo?"

Storm blushed at the comment. "Won't that be a little obvious."

"That's the point dear. I was panning on accompanying that with a pointed look at Hank." Emma grinned mischieviously.

Storm's cheeks reddened and the two began to laugh, not noticing Wolverine approaching. "What are you two laughing at?"

"Oh nothing dear." Emma rested a hand on her fiancé's shoulder. "Come to help us choose flower arrangements."

Storm dared not look at Emma for fear of errupting in a laughing fit so conspicuous there would be no hope of hiding it from Logan.

Logan paled for a moment but grinned slyly when he realised Emma was joking. "No, I just thought I should have at least _some_ input in regards to my own wedding."

Emma's eyes widened. He actually _did_ care? He wasn't exactly taking an active role but he did still want to help plan? The blonde was filled with both happiness and sadness at this news. He cared, which would make her happy now, but would ultimately end in heart ache for them both.

"Well we've just finished the wedding procession, care to take a look?" Storm handed him the file before he could answer, so being Wolverine, he didn't bother to give her one.

Logan skimmed the name and nodded, a look of relief spredding across his face, something both Emma and Ororo didn't miss.

"Whatever could be making you look so thankful?" Emma quizzed with a calculating smile, already knowing his answer without reading his thoughts. She was right about one thing, Logan did find Reed's work boring.

"Nothing really, I just didn't want to have Reed as a groomsmen and risk having to listen to another boring speech, most likely about how relationships are like machines." Logan shrugged indifferently, causing Emma to cover her mouth to keep from laughing whilst Ororo shook her head with slightly amused disappointment.

'_**We need to talk.'**_

With those four little words, all humour threatened to drain from Emma's face. She turned back to Ororo and Logan. "Logan? Why don't you and Ororo go over what we've planned so far? I think I'll go lend my hand, or my _mind_ rather, to the others in silencing Apocalypse so they can focus all their energy on keeping him in a telekinetic lock-down."

Wolverine nodded, automatically doing what was best for the team rather than listening to his own desires which wanted to keep Emma by his side with Storm, so he could cherish one of today's few moments of happiness, considering Emma's earlier night terrors.

Emma walked away from her companions and stopped just far enough away from the telekinetics so it would look like she was helping, but so it wouldn't alert them to her presence. She sat down cross-legged and consentrated.

'_**What could I possibly do for you, Celeste?'**_

**Next time: How will the others react to the wedding plans? Will a fight actually break out? Will Apocalypse break free (Probably not)?**


	18. Hiatus Message Sorry In Advance

**Hi guys, this probably isn't what you want to hear considering my flakiness in the past, but I'm putting the story on hiatus for August. It's just I have a lot to do this month and to be honest I'm just not feeling the story right now. It will resume around September 14****th**** and hopefully be better than recently. Sorry if this is annoying but I just don't want to disappoint you with chapters that aren't up to standard.**

**Sorry and thanks for all the reviews,**

**Zoe :^)**


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